Sanders to Pay Fine for Mayoral Campaign

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate J. Stanley Sanders has agreed to pay a $31,000 fine--the largest ever levied against a candidate by the city Ethics Commission--for using campaign funds to pay the overdue rent on his private law office.

The fine is the result of a 1993 Ethics Commission audit that concluded that Sander’s mayoral campaign misused $53,490 in funds in paying nine months’ rent for his law office.

The audit also found that Sanders’ campaign failed to report 31 campaign contributions, among other record-keeping campaign violations.

Sanders did not return calls Monday seeking comment, but in the past he has denied any impropriety, saying that the law office was used for campaign purposes and therefore the rent was a legal expense.

The audit, however, concluded that the law office was not used for campaign purposes for the entire period between November 1992 and July 1993, as Sanders has insisted.

The agreement to pay the fine has been signed by Sanders and Rebecca Avila, the executive director of the Ethics Commission. The entire commission is expected to formally approve the agreement today during a special meeting.

But the agreement will not end Sanders’ legal problems. The state Fair Political Practices Commission, a campaign watchdog group, filed a suit against Sanders last month involving the same issues as the agreement. Sanders has not been served with the suit, FPPC officials said.

The FPPC is asking a Superior Court judge to fine Sanders $205,970 for the alleged misuse of campaign money and for campaign disclosure violations.

Avila declined to comment on the Ethics Commission agreement, saying city policy prohibits her from speaking on the matter until it is approved by the entire commission.

The commission’s interest grows mainly from a concern that $12,780 of the money Sanders spent on the rent came from city matching funds--tax money used to help finance the campaigns of qualifying candidates.

All told, Sanders received $158,279 in city matching funds.

The investigation was launched after Sanders’ campaign wrote a $53,490 check July 29, 1993, to pay nine months back rent and settle a protracted dispute between Sanders and the landlord of the Wilshire Boulevard building where his law office was located.

“Although the [campaign] committee stated that the campaign occupied the law offices from November 1992 through April 1993, auditors found no evidence that campaign activity occurred at the Sanders & Dickerson law office before Dec. 15, 1992,” the audit concluded.

Moreover, the audit said Sanders paid for rent through July, even though his committee stated that it only used the offices until April.

In addition, the audit said the $53,490 also paid for legal fees associated with the dispute Sanders had with his landlord over the overdue rent.