Campaign Fund Violations Cost Official $1,000

A freshman Anaheim councilman who has been fined $1,000 for campaign disclosure violations said Saturday the breaches were caused by clerical oversight and that he will pay the fines.

Richard Chavez, who was elected in 2002, said he exceeded the $1,000 contribution limit per donor in city races in four cases, including a $9,000 loan his campaign received from his parents.

He was ordered by the city to return the excess contributions, and the city clerk fined him $500, he said.

He was fined an additional $500 for missing a filing deadline.

“I was doing my own bookkeeping, and it was a clerical mistake on my part,” he said.

“It was not done intentionally.”

Chavez, 49, a former Anaheim firefighter, spent more than $60,000 on his campaign and edged Bob Zemel by 516 votes.