2 Campaign Gifts Exceeded Limit, Will Be Remitted

Rep. Jerry Patterson’s 1984 reelection committee plans to refund $4,500 to two political action committees because the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) determined that the contributions exceeded U.S. campaign limits.

Linda Moulton, Patterson’s 1984 campaign treasurer, acknowledged this week that she had received a May 7 letter from the FEC requesting that Patterson’s reelection committee refund the money.

The committee amended its 1984 campaign disclosure statement, which had listed the funds as contributions. The amended statements, recently filed with the FEC, show that the money has not been returned and is listed as unpaid debts.

Patterson, a Santa Ana Democrat, was unseated last year by Republican Robert K. Dornan. Patterson was unavailable for comment.

“We wanted to refund the money sooner, but what can you do when you don’t have it?” Moulton said. “We have raised some since then, and we’re now getting ready to write the checks.

“We believed in good faith that the PACs (political action committees) knew what they were doing. How were we supposed to know that there was a problem?”

According to the May 7 letter, a routine FEC staff review of campaign reports showed that two contributions exceeded federal limits. They were a $5,000 contribution from the Irvine-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and a $1,500 donation from the Western Federal Savings Political Action Committee of Marina del Rey.

The letter cites federal election laws that prohibit a political action committee from donating more than $1,000 to a candidate’s campaign unless it has operated for six months and has supported at least five office-seekers with money from a minimum of 50 PAC donors during that period.

At the time of the Patterson contributions, neither the savings and loan nor the Social Security PAC had qualified for the maximum of $5,000 per candidate, according to FEC spokesman Fred Eiland.

Officials for Western Federal Savings were not available. James Roosevelt, Social Security PAC chairman, acknowledged that the PAC had donated the $5,000 to Patterson’s campaign at Roosevelt’s request.