Isles Says Senate Foes Improperly Moved Funds

Republican state Senate candidate Ron Isles charged Tuesday that two of his opponents--Assemblymen Gil Ferguson and Frank Hill--have improperly transferred money from their Assembly campaign accounts to accounts that they can use in waging the Senate race.

But both Hill (R-Whittier) and Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) said Tuesday that they cleared the transfers with state election authorities before the transactions were made.

Hill said he received written approval for his transfer of more than $20,000 into his Senate campaign account. And Ferguson also said he first talked with state attorneys for the Fair Political Practices Commission before transferring $1,000 to his Senate campaign.

“Here you’ve got a guy like Ron Isles who doesn’t understand the laws,” Ferguson said. “That’s why we’re saying, ‘elect a guy with experience.’ ”

Isles, a Brea city councilman, charged that the transfers violate Proposition 73, the 1989 measure that reformed campaign financing.

“I guess the voters should not be surprised that Frank and Gil would use a loophole to fund their campaigns,” Isles charged in a written statement Tuesday. “It is typical of the ‘business as usual’ and ‘win at any cost’ attitude which I want to see changed in Sacramento.”

State election officials were not available for comment Tuesday.

Hill, Ferguson and Isles are the major Republican candidates in a special election to replace state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), who resigned last month. The overwhelmingly Republican district straddles the boundary between Los Angeles and Orange counties and stretches from West Covina to Laguna Beach.

The primary is scheduled for Feb. 6 and the general election, if necessary, will be held April 10.

Ferguson said he was not planning to transfer more than $1,000 between his campaign accounts because the transfer triggers other restrictions on contributions and the money cannot be returned to the Assembly campaign.

Hill said Tuesday: “Any time we do anything, we get them (state election authorities) to sign. Everything we did was per the FPPC.”

Ferguson agreed with Isles that a money transfer between campaign accounts could create a loophole that would allow an individual contributor’s name to be kept secret until after the Feb. 6 primary.

Individual contributions made in January to either Hill’s or Ferguson’s Assembly campaign committees do not have to be reported until after the primary. And if the money is transferred to the Senate race, it is reported only as a lump sum, not by individual contributors.

“That may be an omission in the law,” Ferguson said. “The public might not know who the contributor is.”