Insurance Chief Fined for Campaign Violations

Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to the California Fair Political Practices Commission for 31 violations of the campaign reporting laws in his 1994 race for commissioner.

The violations included failure to properly identify contributors, lumping funds together wrongfully and failing, in a few instances, to make required late contribution filings.

Most of Quackenbush’s contributions came from the insurance industry.

Quackenbush’s lawyer, Chuck Bell, characterized the violations Wednesday as “clerical errors” and “mistakes,” although he acknowledged that Karl W. Dolk, the campaign treasurer, agreed to resign because of them.

Dolk could not be reached for comment.

Bell noted that in its written summary of the matter, the Fair Political Practices Commission had stated: “There is no evidence of any intentional misconduct, only negligent campaign reporting violations.”

However, in the same summary, the commission stated that Quackenbush, his campaign committee and Dolk “committed a very large number of violations of the Political Reform Act.”

“From its audit of the Quackenbush Campaign Committee, the Franchise Tax Board found that the respondents failed to substantially comply with the requirements” of the law, the summary added.

It noted that Quackenbush had been also found guilty of campaign reporting violations during an earlier run for the state Assembly.

“Even a brief review of the campaign statements would have allowed the Quackenbush campaign to see its errors,” the commission said.