Firm Fined $2,000 for Late Disclosure

A major development firm will not be able to obtain any building permits from Los Angeles County until it pays a $2,000 fine imposed Tuesday for failing to report its lobbying activity on time.

The County Board of Supervisors fined Dale Poe Development Corp. of Agoura Hills despite a last-minute move by the developer to avoid the penalty. The company filed its quarterly lobbying report Monday--two months and one day after it was due. The company, best known for building Stevenson Ranch, a master-planned housing community in Santa Clarita, listed no activity in the report.

The company is the first to be sanctioned under the county’s tough new ordinance on lobbying, said Larry Monteilh, executive officer of the Board of Supervisors.

Company officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but earlier this week attributed the delay to a shake-up in the firm after the death of founder Dale Poe in May.

The ordinance requires lobbyists and their employers to submit quarterly reports on all money spent on lobbying activities, including campaign contributions. Companies and groups that spend more than $5,000 on public relations campaigns to influence county officials also have to report their expenses, even if they do not hire a lobbyist. The law also prohibits lobbyists from giving gifts worth more than $50 to public officials.