FPPC dismisses Huntington Beach’s complaints about local PAC, Ocean View School District
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The California Fair Political Practices Commission has declined to pursue possible campaign violations alleged by the city of Huntington Beach against a local political action committee and the Ocean View School District.
FPPC assistant chief of enforcement Christopher Burton sent a letter to the Citizens for Good Governance PAC and Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library on Tuesday, indicating the commission would pass on moving forward with the complaint after reviewing the city’s allegations, the evidence it provided and the response.
Mayor Pat Burns, along with Councilmembers Chad Williams and Butch Twining, brought an agenda item forward on May 6, about a month before the June library special election. They sought investigation by the city attorney and staff into more than $23,000 that Friends of the Library gave to Citizens for Good Governance PAC on four occasions last year, as well as $10,000 that Citizens for Good Governance subsequently gave to the Our Library Matters committee earlier this year. Our Library Matters had been formed specifically to support “yes” votes on Measures A and B on the ballot.
Like his council colleagues, Williams took a particularly hard stance against the two initiatives.
Forming his own PAC, which he named Protect our Children with Councilman Chad Williams, Vote No on A & B, he enraged some parents after he posted large signs bearing the word “porn” near schools prior to the election, insinuating the public library carried pornography on its shelves and made it available to children.
Ultimately, voters passed both measures. Measure A, which passed with more than 58% of the vote, repealed a parent/guardian children’s book advisory board. Measure B, which received support of more than 60% of voters, required that the voters green light any future efforts to outsource public library operations.
Cathey Ryder, chair of Citizens for Good Governance, said at the time the city accused her group of campaign violations that the money it received from Friends of the Library was reimbursement for printing services, not a donation to her committee.
Ryder on Thursday called the city’s complaint “political theater.”
“[Williams] was trying to discredit us, and convince people that we were somehow the villains,” she said Thursday. “I think he was trying to deflect from the whole ‘porn sign’ controversy and discredit us, that somehow we had done something wrong. It’s not dissimilar to what we’re seeing at the national level … This was just a blatant attempt to discredit us, and fortunately it backfired.”
Ryder said it was concerning that the city attorney was asked to file complaints, and that the group was investigating if that could be considered an illegal in-kind expense from the city to Williams’ own PAC.
“[Williams] should have done the investigation through his PAC, not asked the city attorney,” Ryder said. “We don’t know that is exactly appropriate … If I wanted to call out somebody, I wouldn’t ask the city attorney to investigate for me. Maybe that is [Williams’] purview, maybe that’s perfectly OK, but I don’t know.”
Burns and Williams did not return messages Thursday seeking comment.
Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library President Elaine Bauer Keeley said Thursday that the group remains committed to serving the library and serving the public, and would never do anything to put that public trust at risk.
“My hope is that the City Council embraces the nonprofits that work so hard for the public,” Keeley said.
Electioneering claim also denied
The FPPC also declined to pursue enforcement against the Ocean View School District. On May 22, the council had voted to ask the mayor and city attorney to investigate a resolution passed by the OVSD board that supported both Measures A and B, with Williams saying that action raised legal concerns about using public resources for campaign purposes.
“Dissemination of advocacy communication using taxpayer funded platforms may constitute unlawful electioneering,” Williams said during that meeting.
On July 15, the FPPC enforcement division sent a letter to President Patricia Singer and the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees, indicating it would not pursue a complaint.
OVSD board clerk Gina Clayton-Tarvin said Thursday Williams’ assertion was absolutely false.
“We’re a political governance body, and we’re allowed to take votes on things that are of public interest to our constituents, which are families,” she said. “Libraries are of major public interest to our families, especially because the Ocean View School District leases the Oak View branch library to the city of Huntington Beach. We are completely within our rights to take positions.”
She added that the district did not use money or district resources to advocate for a position, simply sending out a “Board Connections” newsletter update about what had occurred at that specific meeting.
“We didn’t say why, we didn’t say you should, we didn’t advocate for a yes vote,” she said. “We merely reported what occurred at the meeting.”
Williams himself also filed an unsuccessful FPPC complaint against Clayton-Tarvin and her campaign committee on May 30, alleging inaccurate information on campaign signs and record-keeping, as well as improper use of campaign funds.
Clayton-Tarvin said her attorney subsequently sent him a cease and desist letter.
“I hope that he learns moving forward that the way he operated was unethical, it was not neighborly,” she said. “He made so many enemies from that. I hope he’s learned from that, I really do.”
