 |
 |
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The failure of three Santa Rosa City Council candidates to disclose that they were sharing expenses during the 2010 campaign violated state law, the state’s campaign finance watchdog has concluded.
Santa Rosa city council members Scott Bartley and Jake Ours and unsuccessful council candidate Juan Hernandez received warning letters recently but no fines from the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigated the matter.
The commission concluded that the pro-business threesome, whose names and faces appeared together on signs, mailers and advertisements throughout the campaign, “failed to properly disclose the apportioned costs” of the campaign materials.
However, the commission noted that because the men had agreed to share expenses during the campaign, amended their filings once they became aware of the problem, and repaid some of the debts, the commission decided to close the case without fines.
“I’m glad that it’s been recognized that we didn’t do anything other than report it incorrectly,” Bartley said.
Bartley, an architect, former planning commissioner and Santa Rosa native, raised significantly more money than Ours and Hernandez during the campaign. He at times paid bills for expenses covering all three candidates, such as a $9,805 check for a joint campaign mailer and $6,526 for a campaign advertisement.
He reported paying those expenses, but didn’t report that Ours and Hernandez owed his campaign for their share of those expenses. Ours made a similar error when he paid a $3,852 to a local printing company for the cost of a mailer.
“It got confusing,” Ours said of the campaign filings, which he said he prepared himself. “We thought we did it right. Then we found out we didn’t do it right.”
Attorney Richard Meechan, chairman of the Coalition for a Better Sonoma County, filed a series of campaign finance complaints over the 2010 election. All but the latest one have been dismissed by either the FPPC or the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, which was asked to investigate alleged violation of local campaign finance ordinances. Meechan did not respond to a call for comment.
He has previously said the complaints were an effort to highlight the way political consultant Herb Williams runs election campaigns. Williams, 75, has advised political candidates in Sonoma County for 20 years. He also is a registered lobbyist, which critics claim raises questions about the influence he wields.
Williams managed the campaigns of Bartley, Ours and Hernandez, and all agreed that because money was tight they would share expenses, he said. The plan was for each candidate to pay for similar campaign expenses as they came due and they would “balance it out at the end,” he said.
“Our mistake was not billing the individual candidates on the front end,” Williams said. “It was never the intent of the candidates to not properly disclose, which has been recognized by the FPPC by the closure of this matter.”
The parity didn’t work out as planned, however. Donations to Hernandez dropping off sharply after the Press Democrat reported that he was in the midst of his second bankruptcy, undercutting his claims of being a successful businessman.
Hernandez, owner of a local computer services firm, remains in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and his campaign is still $13,000 in debt. He said he plans to raise the money necessary to repay those debts. He said he was pleased with the resolution of the complaint “because there was never any intent to mislead anything.”
Councilwoman Susan Gorin, who successfully ran for reelection against the three candidates in 2010, said she was disappointed the case was resolved with just a warning because “the lack of transparency to the voters was quite blatant.”
Gorin noted that Williams is “an experienced campaign consultant” and the treasurers for all three campaigns were also current or former Williams candidates (Mayor Ernesto Olivares for Hernandez, Jane Bender for Bartley, and Janet Condron for Ours).
“Clearly someone should have known the FPPC reporting requirements,” Gorin said.
Williams said he bears some of the responsibility for the errors and plans to hire professional help for future campaigns to ensure nothing similar happens again.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.
Subscribe by Email
Follow us on Twitter
Another reason to vote for Gorin and not Sawyer:
A war of words erupted between Santa Rosa’s mayor [ Susan Gorin ] and the city’s police union Wednesday over the group’s endorsements of her rivals and the revelation of a private agreement to tackle the rising costs of public pension benefits. – http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/09/cities/santa-rosa-mayor-police-union-spar/
AND THEN:
Santa Rosa firefighters union picks side in council race – http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/09/cities/santa-rosa-firefighters-union-picks-side-in-council-race/
We now know how that “… private agreement to tackle the rising costs of public pension benefits.” worked out for the police and fire.
I hope Gorin, Wysocky, Carlstrom, Allen and Meecham (if he runs) all lose their election bids. Compared to this bunch mayor Oliveras is a saint. This is a nit picky offense, that’s why they just got a warning. Watch out for candidates supported by unions, and phony environmental non-profit groups. These are the people that high-jacked the environmental movement for their own dubious purposes. Our business friendly city council has done a good job of holding the line against the anti- business, anti- car fanatics that now control most of the democratic party in Sonoma County. Voters, do your homework.
Allen gets help under the table-if you’re referring to me about blogging positive things about Michael Allen, I can say I’ve DONATED both money and time to his campaign. HOWEVER, I am not paid. I don’t know where you people get these ideas? Are you being paid by the TPers? I know some of his other defenders on this blog and no one I know gets paid.
DEMOCRATS Voted in by DEMO-RATS
Here’s your chance to get more of “other peoples money”. Make the campaign finance rules so convoluted that someone makes a mistake and then slap them with huge fines. Just ike the IRS. You are a big government braniac. If you ask for help from the IRS and they are wrong, it is on you. Campaign fianance is obviously a huge money maker for all of you who love the governement spending other peoples money. Fine them, they reported it on a 236 form instead of a 438 form, AHA, you got them now. Dig your meat hooks in and take them for all you can.
Do you work in the auditors office by change?
sounds like Susan Gorin and Richard Meechan has been working together trying to get fines imposed on the three.How many meetings have they had on this? Gorin and Meechan just needs to give up and move on!
Dear Attorney Richard Meechan, thank you, sir.
Mayor of Santa Rosa, Ernesto Olivares has unclean hands; mercy sakes alive, what happened to our fair city. He is seeking reelection, correct ? Good to know when we go to the poll.
Herb Williams has managed the campaigns of slates of candidates before. He has managed the campaigns of the growth faction of the City Council for more than a decade. He is in the business of knowing the rules. It is hard to believe this was an oversight.
Shared expenses…if that’s a problem then so is the North Bay Labor Council’s hidden financial support of candidates they recruit and endorse. The North Bay Labor Council pays a full time staffer to haunt Watch Sonoma County “commenting” or “spinning” stories for her candidates like Michael Allen. But the NBLC does not report a dime of the money spent on her salary as a gift or contribution to the candidates.
That deserves more than a warning.
The “coalition for a Beter Sonoma County” includes the North Bay Labor Council and they support…Susan Gorin. How much contact and support is Gorin getting from the NBLC? How much money will the NBLC pour into her campaign and then fund the “Coalition” to put out hit pieces? Rick Meechan and the Coalition simply want to control non partisan offices in Santa Rosa. The “slate” the NBLC, Lisa Maldaonado, and Rick Meechan are lining up for City Council include Gary Wysocky and Erin Carlstrom.
Does the FPPC ever levee fines or serious punishment?
The campaign account forms that candidates fill out have to be signed by the candidate and their treasurer. That signature declares something to the effect of “I swear under penalty of perjury that this document is correct”. Current supervisor David Rabbit falsified his campaign finances for some three years and got the same stern letter of disapproval from the FPPC that these guys did. What part about perjury as being against the law don’t any of those people understand?
Much ado about nothing. It’s a rare candidate that hasn’t violated a technical rule in the maze of reporting requirements. I say this as no supporter of Bartley.
Politicians need to be praised or damned based on substantive policy actions, not this petty stuff.
there should have been massive fines imposed on these three. I hope the PD runs this story again when they’re up for re-election. Bartley was shady when he ran, and he’s governed just has shady.