Newport Beach : Ex-Candidate Beek Late With Disclosure Form

Former City Council candidate Allan Beek failed to turn in two campaign disclosure statements by a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday, but City Clerk Wanda Raggio said she would wait one more day before asking the district attorney’s office to file charges against him.

“He’s home working on it, and he called me twice today with questions,” said Raggio, who had planned to send a letter to the district attorney’s office if Beek had not filed by 5 p.m. “Knowing that he’s home conscientiously working on it, I’ll hold off another day.”

Disclosure forms for both Beek’s City Council campaign and for Gridlock, a slow-growth political action group that Beek headed, were due Jan. 31, Raggio said.

Beek, a computer engineer, said he hadn’t gotten around to filling out the forms “just because I’m disorganized.” He stayed home from work Tuesday to complete the paper work, but at 4:30 he said there was “no way” he could finish in half an hour.

“You have to report the occupation of all your contributors over $25, and I don’t know them all,” Beek said. “I’m still trying to reach about a dozen.”

Beek said he hoped to complete the statements Tuesday night and slip them under the door at City Hall. In any case, he was not overly concerned with the prospect of misdemeanor charges and thousands of dollars in fines. “I’m sure the D.A. isn’t going to prosecute if I get it in this week,” Beek said.

Even if Raggio does not ask the district attorney’s office to file charges, Beek still faces a $10 penalty for each day that each statement is late. As of Tuesday, the bill was $420 and counting.

“I’ll write them a check,” Beek said.