Prosecutor Finds No Grounds to Try Oceanside Official

A special prosecutor hired by the city of Oceanside will not seek charges against Councilman Sam Williamson, who was accused by a political adversary of violating the city’s campaign ordinance during his reelection bid last November.

After completing a seven-month investigation this week, Beatrice Kemp, a former state deputy attorney general, said on Friday that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the second-term councilman “willfully and knowingly” violated the campaign laws.

“The ordinance demands that I prove he had demonstrated specific intent to violate the campaign rules,” Kemp said. “I looked at each of the allegations and determined that I would not be able to amass enough evidence to prove there was willful and knowing violation of the ordinance.

“Based on that determination, I decided not to prosecute,” she said.

Conflict of Interest Cited

Kemp was hired after City Atty. Charles Revlett removed his office from the case, citing a conflict of interest because of his familiarity with Williamson.

After he won reelection, Williamson was accused by Jim Willis, a rival candidate, of failing to accurately disclose campaign donations and accepting contributions exceeding the limits set by the city’s campaign law.

Kemp declined to discuss the details of allegations made against Williamson and said: “I don’t see any reason to go line-by-line. Overall, I determined there was not enough evidence to prosecute. I’m not going to talk about specifics.”

But Kemp said there was no evidence that Williamson received contributions exceeding the city limits. At times, however, the councilman did fail to report donations in a timely manner, Kemp said.

Report Listing Ralley Late

“For example, the cruise (a rally held on a charter boat to kick off Williamson’s campaign) was in July, but the report listing that item was filed in January,” Kemp said. “In between that time, three reports were filed. Did he follow the strict letter of the law? No.”

Earlier in the investigation, Kemp hinted that ambiguous language in the ordinance could make prosecution difficult.

Williamson denied the allegations when they surfaced. The statute, adopted in May, 1988, established campaign reporting requirements and curbed contributions by an individual or an organization.

The ordinance states that no person can contribute more than $250 to a candidate, and that no political action committee or any other organization can give more than $500 to any candidate.

No ‘Ill Feelings Toward Anybody’

“I don’t have any ill feelings toward anybody,” said Williamson, after his exoneration. “I realize accusations were made, and as false as they were, I realize the process demands that they be checked out. And it’s been proven that they were strictly untrue.”

There was no evidence to substantiate charges that Williamson undervalued the non-monetary contributions of the charter boat cruise and rental of his campaign headquarters in a campaign disclosure form, according to Kemp.

Williamson had been accused of undervaluing items so that they would fall within the limits of the campaign ordinance.