Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By Jeff Horseman | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise
April 20, 2018 at 7:16 pm
California’s campaign finance watchdog agency has fined an Inland water district official $36,500 for multiple infractions, including failing to close a legal defense fund tied to his fight to serve on two elected bodies at the same time.
By Jeff Horseman | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise
March 23, 2018 at 4:17 pm
California’s campaign finance watchdog wants to impose $36,500 in fines on a water district board member, in part for not closing a legal defense fund for his unsuccessful fight to serve on two elected bodies at the same time.
Patrick McGreevy
By Patrick McGreevy
Monday, March 5, 2018 - 12:40 p.m.
California’s campaign watchdog agency last year approved a record 340 settlements of cases involving violations of ethics and political finance rules, according to its annual report issued Monday.
By Patrick McGreevy
Mar 03, 2018 | 12:05 AM
Sacramento —
Special interests have continued to shower California legislators with hundreds of thousands of dollars in freebies, including foreign travel, golf games and concert tickets, as efforts to rein in gifts to elected state officials after a series of corruption scandals have stalled.
Patrick McGreevy
March 16, 2017 - 11:00 a.m.
In a rare bipartisan agreement, the leaders of the Democratic and Republican caucuses of the state Senate and Assembly have united to fight a proposal by the state’s campaign watchdog agency to change the test for when a candidate controls a political committee.
By Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
Posted: Mar 6, 2017 at 6:07 PM
Updated: Mar 6, 2017 at 7:04 PM
San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood violated Fair Political Practices Commission rules by failing to timely disclose income sources of $10,000 or more to his staffing company in 2013 and 2014. He was fined and paid $6,000 to settle four counts lodged against him.
Esmeralda Bermudez
March 6, 2017
A San Bernardino County supervisor has agreed to pay a $6,000 fine for not disclosing part of his earnings in state filings.
Patrick McGreevy
California politics
Dec. 20, 2016 - 3:23 p.m.
Los Angeles County had more cases of politicians and others successfully prosecuted for violating campaign finance and ethics rules than any other county in California this year, the state Fair Political Practices Commission reported Tuesday.
Jeff McDonald
September 24, 2016 - 05:00 p.m.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission will investigate donations made to the California Democratic Party by privately owned utilities and other energy interests.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
[email protected]
September 23, 2016 - 2:37 PM
The state’s political ethics commission is launching an investigation into the California Democratic Party after an advocacy group alleged the party acted as a middleman to funnel donations from oil and energy companies to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014 re-election campaign.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
August 29, 2016 - 2:43 PM
A large coalition of “goo-goos” – Capitol jargon for reform groups such as Common Cause and the League of Women Voters – wants the Legislature to shine the light of disclosure on those who provide “dark money” for political campaigns.
By Jordan Graham / Staff Writer
Updated Aug. 6, 2016 - 8:25 a.m.
The state’s political watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas violated the Political Reform Act by failing to report charitable donations he used his influence to solicit, and by approving public funds to be spent promoting his chief of staff’s business partner.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
[email protected]
July 21, 2016 - :33 PM
California’s political watchdog approved a regulatory change Thursday aimed at encouraging shadow lobbyists to disclose their efforts to influence legislation.
By Alison Noon, Associated Press
Jul. 21, 2016 - 2:17 AM ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s top political watchdog is championing a bid to crack down on lobbyists who fail to disclose efforts to influence government officials.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
[email protected]
June 21, 2016 - 4:05 PM
California’s political watchdog is considering a regulatory change to draw “shadow lobbyists,” consultants paid to influence legislation, into the public eye.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
[email protected]
May 19, 2016 - 11:59 AM
Former Republican lawmaker Tony Strickland will pay a $40,000 fine under a settlement with campaign finance regulators approved Thursday, with the former lawmaker admitting that he arranged for supporters to bypass voter-approved contribution limits during his 2010 race for state controller.
Patrick McGreevy
May 9, 2016 - 2:01 P.M.
California enforcement officials are proposing $80,000 in ethics fines against former state Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Camarillo).
Capitol Alert
By Jeremy B. White
[email protected]
March 24, 2016 - 5:57 PM
California’s campaign finance watchdog will investigate whether a top aide to Gov. Jerry Brown accurately disclosed the status of her stock holdings in a major utility.
Capitol Alert
By Taryn Luna
[email protected]
March 17, 2016 - 12:17 PM
The Fair Political Practices Commission voted Thursday to change a ride-along rule to curb abuse of state lobbying regulations.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
March 14, 2016 - 3:27 PM
Slowly – perhaps too slowly – but surely, California is shining some much-needed light into the darker corners of its political system.
Patrick McGreevy
February 10, 2016
The state’s ethics watchdog agency has launched a yearlong overhaul of California’s law governing campaign finance and lobbying with an eye toward streamlining and simplifying rules that many politicians complain are too complex, the agency’s top official said Wednesday.
Patrick McGreevy
January 16, 2015
The dire warning arrived in a mailer to thousands of state voters from a group called the California Drivers Alliance.
Published: Dec. 22, 2015 - 2:58 p.m.
For the third time since 2006, a state agency has fined Jeff Stone’s campaign thousands of dollars for breaking California’s campaign finance rules.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Phil Willon
November 20, 2015
A state ethics agency has determined that California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris did not violate state laws when she received gifts from a company owned by San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk.
Capitol Alert
Sacramento Bee
By Christopher Cadelago
[email protected]
November 10, 2015
California’s political ethics watchdog has shelved plans to discuss a controversial proposal that would make it easier for staff to remove behested payment filings and other documents from its website after seven years.
By Josh Richman
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 at 3:14 pm
Sacramento-
The state’s political watchdog agency is mulling a rules change that would mean dropping elected officials’ economic disclosures and “behested payments” reports from its website after seven years – effectively removing them from public view.
Phil Willon
November 3, 2015
A state ethics agency has told California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris that it may launch an inquiry into an allegation that she received gifts from a company owned by a San Francisco interior designer that exceed legal limits.
Capitol Alert
By Jim Miller
[email protected]
October 10, 2015
Gov. Jerry Brown, offering a mixed reaction to legislative proposals to change the political-ethics law he helped pass 40 years ago, signed a bill Saturday to require nonprofit groups that pay for lawmaker travel to disclose their donors.
Published: Oct. 6, 2015 - Updated: 5:06 p.m.
“A City That Works” didn’t when it comes to California’s campaign finance rules, and the result is a $2,000 fine for the city of Redlands.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The P-E Political Empire Blog, click here.
By Jeff McDonald | Oct. 2, 2015 - 6:07 p.m.
State elections regulators have cleared the California Public Utilities Commission president of any wrongdoing related to a February gala dinner honoring his predecessor.
By Patrick McGreevy
September 17, 2015
The state’s campaign finance watchdog agency on Thursday adopted new requirements that nonprofit groups that contribute through a federal political action committee to support or oppose ballot measures or candidates in California must disclose their donors.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 08/12/15 - 4:56 PM PDT | U
The state Fair Political Practices Commission has fined San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon and 4th District Supervisor Curt Hagman each $1,500 for campaign finance reporting violations during the 2014 election cycle.
By Dan Morain
[email protected]
August 1, 2015
The watchdog seems to be taking a little nap. Or perhaps the politicians, lobbyists and consultants suddenly are on their best behavior.
By Jeff McDonald
June 12, 2015 - 7:17 p.m.
Tens of thousands of dollars in proceeds from a February tribute dinner for former utility regulator Michael Peevey was turned away by the University of California after Peevey fell under the shadow of criminal investigation.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 05/25/15 - 5:12 PM PDT |
San Bernardino County appears to be getting its money’s worth out of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 05/11/15 - 4:20 PM PDT |
For the third time in the last two election cycles, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos has been fined by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for improper campaign reporting practices.
By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 05/11/15 - 3:18 PM PDT |
A prominent Rancho Cucamonga political action committee could be fined $6,000 by the state’s ethics watchdog for failing to timely file two campaign statements, and failing to timely disclose contributions it received and made during the 2010 election.
By Adam Elmahrek
May 11, 2015 at 2:53 PM
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has agreed to pay $13,000 in fines to the state’s political watchdog for several violations of state law related to a real estate deal he conducted with a city contractor.
By Adam Elmahrek
April 15, 2015 at 7:28 AM
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will be clearing Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido of any criminal wrongdoing related to a property swap between the mayor and a city contractor, according to sources with knowledge of the decision.
By Patrick McGreevy
March 10, 2015
Citing inflation, the state’s campaign finance watchdog agency is considering a proposal to raise the fundraising thresholds at which campaigns must report their financing, drawing some concerns from an advocate for fuller disclosure.
By Patrick McGreevy
February 19, 2015
The state ethics watchdog panel adopted regulations Thursday banning political fundraisers in the homes of lobbyists, rejecting exceptions to the rule proposed by a group representing legislative advocates.
By Jim Miller
[email protected]
02/06/2015 11:42 PM
Eureka, on California’s North Coast, is at least a seven-hour drive from Fresno, the northern tip of the Central Valley’s sprawling 14th Senate District. It’s even farther from Santa Ana, the Orange County city at the heart of Southern California’s 34th Senate District.
By David Siders
[email protected]
01/13/2015 5:42 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown has reappointed Jodi Remke chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, his office said Tuesday.
By Patrick McGreevy
January 5, 2015
The state ethics agency closed a record number of cases with proven violations in 2014 and also set new highs with the number of cases in which public officials agreed to fines, according to an annual report released Monday.
Californians to watch in 2015
By Laurel Rosenhall
[email protected]
12/24/2014 10:22 PM
Jodi Remke was appointed California’s top political watchdog this spring as a series of scandals unfolded in the state Capitol – bribery charges against two legislators, a perjury conviction against a third and a six-figure fine against a local lobbyist who routinely hosted politicians at his house over fine wines and cigars.
By Patrick McGreevy
December 5, 2014
A Superior Court judge on Friday ruled that the state’s ethics agency could subpoena financial records as part of an investigation into possible political money laundering involving 11 supporters of newly elected state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove).
By Laurel Rosenhall
[email protected]
11/15/2014 10:00 PM
When Sen. Ricardo Lara ran for a Los Angeles-area seat in the Legislature in 2010, he turned to a veteran Sacramento campaign consultant to help him get elected: Richie Ross, who has decades of experience running campaigns for Democrats across California.
By Christopher Cadelago
[email protected]
11/14/2014 9:52 PM
The state’s political ethics watchdog has launched an investigation into whether the California Republican Party violated campaign finance rules in the Central Valley’s 21st Assembly District.
By Patrick McGreevy
November 11, 2014
There is more legal trouble for the once politically powerful Calderon family.
By Laurel Rosenhall
[email protected]
11/10/2014 7:53 PM
Richie Ross, a longtime Democratic campaign consultant and lobbyist, has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and write off $160,000 he’s owed for violating California’s lobbying laws, according to a proposed settlement he reached with the staff of the Fair Political Practices Commission.
By Jim Miller
[email protected]
11/01/2014 4:53 PM
California lawmakers racked up more than $4 million in campaign credit-card charges during the first 18 months of this election cycle.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 10/28/14, 4:57 PM PDT | Updated: 38 secs ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> An organizer opposed to the proposed charter reform Measure Q plans to report Councilwoman Virginia Marquez for allegedly using a city-sponsored park clean-up to campaign for the charter change.
By STAFF REPORTS
Posted Oct. 28, 2014 @ 7:08 pm
Updated Oct 28, 2014 at 7:11 PM
The Fair Political Practices Commission acknowledged receiving a complaint against the Hesperia Unified School District in an Oct. 20 letter to a Hesperia resident, but advised him to contact the Attorney General over allegations that the district has misused public funds in support of a bond measure.
Posted: Friday, October 17, 2014 1:41 pm | Updated: 11:23 pm, Fri Oct 17, 2014.
By THY VO and NICK GERDA
The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating nearly a dozen people for political money laundering in connection to campaign contributions to county Supervisor and state Senate candidate Janet Nguyen.
Statewide investigation started in Poway, nabbed 260 officials
By Ricky Young and Jeff McDonald
Oct. 6, 2014 - 02:52 p.m.
California regulators have cracked down on hundreds of public officials up and down the state who accepted meals, baseball tickets, brownies and other gifts from a bond-finance company and failed to disclose them.
By Dale Kasler
[email protected]
Published: Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 - 5:53 pm
CalPERS board member Priya Mathur, repeatedly fined for violating state campaign-finance disclosure rules, is facing a $4,000 penalty for her latest transgression.
By Melanie Mason
September 9, 2014
A new level of campaign spending disclosure unveiled by the state’s ethics agency Tuesday enables voters to quickly see the top donors in this year’s ballot measure fights and other campaigns.
By Patrick McGreevy
August 30, 2014
The state Senate on Friday acted on stricter ethics rules meant to restore public confidence in the Legislature after three senators were charged with criminal wrongdoing.
By Jim Miller
[email protected]
Published: Friday, Jul. 18, 2014 - 3:25 pm
California’s political ethics agency has begun posting the names of campaign treasurers who have repeatedly run afoul of state rules, with the goal of alerting candidates and party officials.
June 6, 2014
A state agency has cleared Inland state Senate candidate Bonnie Garcia of any wrongdoing after a complaint alleged a phony nonprofit funneled about $100,000 to her from a police union.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in the P-E Political Empire Blog, click here.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 06/05/14, 8:55 PM PDT | Updated: 28 secs ago
The Fair Political Practices Commission has cleared former City Attorney James F. Penman of an allegation springing from the recall effort against him and other officials.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 24, 2014
California’s political-ethics panel Thursday unanimously approved a $40,000 money-laundering penalty against state Sen. Tom Berryhill, agreeing with an administrative law judge’s recommended decision that the Twain Harte Republican committed “serious and deliberate” violations of campaign-finance rules.
April 24, 2014
A state agency has fined a former Corona assemblyman $1,000 for accepting tickets to a San Francisco 49ers football game arranged through a lobbying firm, a penalty the ex-lawmaker called politically motivated.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in The PE Political Empire Blog, click here.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 22, 2014
The scandal-ridden state Senate took a step toward cleaning up its image Tuesday, when a key committee approved several bills aimed at purifying the role of money in California politics.
By Marc Lifsher
April 20, 2014, 4:37 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — A longtime board member of the country’s largest public pension fund is in trouble again with California’s political watchdog.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 17, 2014
The board of California’s political ethics watchdog Thursday postponed action on a recommended $40,000 money-laundering penalty against state Sen. Tom Berryhill, his brother and Republican central committees in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
By Dan Walters
[email protected]
Published: Tuesday, Apr. 8, 2014 - 12:00 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Apr. 8, 2014 - 12:13 am
Whether it’s football, tiddlywinks, poker or politics, the rules of the game can play a big role in determining who wins.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 7, 2014
Sean Noble, the man who operated an Arizona nonprofit group that channeled millions of dollars in anonymous donations to two California ballot measures in 2012, said in a television interview Sunday that the investigation he faced by California’s political watchdog was “a complete over-reach.”
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 3, 2014
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation expanding the power of the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate or seek injunctions in campaign finance cases, his office announced Thursday.
By Melanie Mason
March 10, 2014, 3:28 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The Assembly gave final legislative approval Monday to a bill that aims to crack down on anonymous campaign money by giving California’s ethics and tax agencies more authority to conduct investigations.
Thursday, February 27, 2014 - 09:00 a.m.
The fallout from the scandal involving Sacramento lobbyist Kevin Sloat and his firm Sloat, Higgins, Jensen and Associates, has touched several Southern California legislators, in addition to the Governor himself.
By Patrick McGreevy
February 25, 2014, 4:38 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — The state ethics agency on Tuesday made public a warning letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, 10 days after it was provided to the chief executive as a caution for accepting improper contributions from a lobbyist.
Party says it will hold tainted funds in trust for now
By Jeff McDonald
Feb. 21, 2014
One month after pledging to dispose of $30,000 pegged by prosecutors as an illegal campaign contribution from a foreign national, the Democratic Party of San Diego County has yet to send back or donate the money.
By Jeremy B. White
[email protected]
Published: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 - 11:00 pm
A pair of bills requiring greater transparency from electioneering nonprofits are one step away from Gov. Jerry Brown.
By Patrick McGreevy and Paige St. John
February 20, 2014, 10:51 a.m.
SACRAMENTO — An attorney who aided an investigation that resulted in fines against lobbyist Kevin Sloat said the settlement of the matter approved Thursday by the state Fair Political Practices Commission falls short and fails to address some of the most serious allegations involving elected officials.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 12, 2014
Reacting to this week’s announcement that a Sacramento lobbyist is paying a six-figure fine for making illegal campaign contributions by hosting lavish political fundraisers at his home, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia introduced a bill Wednesday to ban the practice.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 10, 2014
Lobbyist Kevin Sloat has set a new record in California, agreeing to pay the state a fine of $133,500 — the largest ever for violating state laws that regulate lobbyists.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 7, 2014
Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are among state officials who will receive warning letters in the California Fair Political Practices Commission’s investigation of a firm headed by a Sacramento lobbyist who held lavish fundraisers for politicians at his home, a source said.
By Garth Stapley
[email protected]
February 7, 2014 Updated 9 hours ago
Sen. Tom Berryhill and Republican committees in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties should be fined a combined $40,000 for laundering campaign money to Berryhill’s brother in 2008, an administrative law judge recommended.
By Laurel Rosenhall and David Siders
[email protected]
Published: Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 - 12:00 am
The state Fair Political Practices Commission is issuing warning letters to as many as 40 state elected officials after reaching a tentative agreement to fine a firm headed by a Sacramento lobbyist who held lavish fundraisers for politicians at his home, sources told The Bee.
By JOHN HOWARD
Posted 02.05.2014
A year-end report of California’s campaign law enforcer includes hundreds of violations, ranging from failure to report donations to money laundering to the infusion of millions of dollars in stealth cash to influence measures on the 2012 ballot.
Saturday, February 1, 2014 - 04:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 3, 2014 - 07:15 p.m.
San Bernardino County’s campaign finance ordinance must have been meant as a cocktail party joke.
Friday, January 31, 2014 - 12:30 p.m.
Last Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to start the process to amend the campaign finance ordinance related to contribution limits.
The county tells local newspapers the changes are recommended by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), and it’s all their idea,
It smelled kind of fishy at the time. Well now we know why.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 01/28/14, 10:07 PM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved revisions to its campaign finance reform ordinance, two years after it was established to combat corruption.
By Juliet Williams
Associated Press
Posted: 01/24/2014 12:53:36 PM PST
Updated: 01/24/2014 12:53:36 PM PST
SACRAMENTO — California’s political watchdog agency said Friday it has collected $300,000 from one of two campaign committees accused of improperly reporting contributions in a case that prompted the largest ethics fine in state history.