Compton
Los Angeles County prosecutors have ordered seven Compton city election candidates--including Mayor Walter R. Tucker and City Atty. Wesley Fenderson Jr.--to pay $100 fines for allegedly failing to file campaign finance reports required by state law.
If the candidates don’t pay within 30 days, Deputy Dist. Atty. Candace J. Beason said, they will be slapped with civil lawsuits in small claims court. She said criminal charges could also be brought against candidates who show a “flagrant disregard” for the campaign law.
The fine against Tucker will stand, Beason said, even though he recently filed his report--nearly three months after the June 20 deadline. City Clerk Charles Davis said Tucker reported spending $26,479 to defeat Councilman Maxcy Filer, who spent $2,787 and lost overwhelmingly.
Beason said “it’s a break from our normal policy” to get involved in such campaign finance matters, which city election officials usually handle. “But since the city attorney in this case is one of the individuals who didn’t comply,” she explained, Davis referred the matter to the district attorney.
The other candidates ordered to pay fines are Frank Bazadier, Fred Cressel, James Hays Jr., Walter Goodin and Louis Johnson.
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