FPPC Warns Sheriff for Unreported Loan, Sale

The state Fair Political Practices Commission announced Monday that it has admonished San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy for failing to report a $36,000 personal loan and the proceeds from the sale of his residence last year.

The commission also warned Duffy not to continue to misreport his economic interests. The statements were made in a two-page letter to Duffy, which was dated Friday and signed by executive director Gregory Baugher.

Last May, the FPPC opened an investigation into whether the sheriff properly disclosed that three of his political supporters had given him and a Sheriff’s Department lieutenant a $36,000 loan to cover their legal costs in a civil lawsuit concerning the ouster of state Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

In addition, the FPPC investigated the timeliness of Duffy’s disclosure that he earned more than $10,000 in proceeds from the 1988 sale of his Mission Bay residence before moving to the Scripps Ranch area.

Duffy Amended Form

Duffy omitted both transactions in his original 1988 Statement of Economic Interests, filed with the county in March of this year. But, after news reporters began inquiring about the transactions, Duffy amended his form and included the Rose Bird loan and the sale of his residence.

In reviewing the matter, the FPPC advised the sheriff that, although he did file the amendments, proper disclosure of the income should have been included in the original reporting statement.

“It appears you have violated the reporting provisions of the Political Reform Act,” the commission’s letter stated.

But the letter also cited “mitigating factors” in the case. Those mitigating factors included the amendments that Duffy later “voluntarily filed,” the letter said. Also mentioned was Duffy’s stated belief that the proceeds from the sale of his residence were exempt from disclosure because it had been the sheriff’s primary place of residence.

The commission’s letter determined there was “no evidence of intentional concealment” on Duffy’s part. Therefore, the letter said, “no further enforcement on this matter is anticipated.”

“Nevertheless,” the letter warned, “failure to properly report economic interest in the future could result in enforcement action being initiated against you.”

In the case of not disclosing the $36,000 loan, Duffy had faced the maximum penalty of a $2,000 administrative fee.

That case resulted from Duffy and Lt. John Tenwolde receiving a $36,000 loan from three members of Duffy’s Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. The money was loaned to cover legal costs assessed Duffy and Tenwolde after a court ruled that they improperly used deputies to pass out cards urging Rose Bird’s ouster.

The money was to have been repaid last July, but William Cowling II, one of the lenders, said the payment deadline has been extended.

Duffy, who has been on vacation in Europe, could not be reached for comment Monday.