News analysis: Are complaints about election practices legitimate, opportunistic — or both?
A state agency that monitors disclosure filings by elected officials and candidates is seeing a flurry of activity in advance of Tuesday’s election.
Complaints to the Fair Political Practices Commission from coastal Orange County are leaving local election-watchers wondering whether the grievances are meritorious or acts of political opportunism.
Those who monitor the complaints, as well as those who’ve been on both ends of them, say it’s not that simple.
Sometimes, they said, the complaints indeed uncover mistakes or intentional misrepresentations in campaign paperwork, doing the necessary job of forcing legally mandated transparency. But other times, they said, filers are nitpicking for simple mistakes in hopes of generating negative headlines about their opponents.
Needless to say, election years can generate hundreds of complaints.
“Part of that is just the nature of there being more campaign activity, filings requirements, and candidates raising and spending money,” said FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga. “But we are also cognizant some campaigns use the complaint process as a tactic to gain attention or get into the media.”
When a complaint is filed and accepted, the subjects then are placed under FPPC “investigation,” a term that finds its way into headlines. And it can often take months for the FPPC’s small staff to determine whether a violation has taken place.
“We take all complaints seriously, but we frown on it being used as a tactic,” Wierenga added. “And we take every measure to try to quickly determine the validity of a complaint, and to either dismiss or open a case in an attempt to resolve it quickly, hopefully before an election so voters can have that information when they decide.”
The Sacramento-based FPPC is made up of a five-member, nonpartisan commission that makes determinations on enforcement cases and legislation related to the Political Reform Act.
Only the FPPC’s Enforcement Division — which consists of around 30 lawyers, investigators, auditors and staff — look through complaints and open certain cases for investigation.
According to an executive staff report, the agency’s Enforcement Division received 202 complaints and referrals from Aug. 30 through Oct. 6. Between Aug. 4 and Aug. 29, 366 were received.
Wierenga said the agency normally sees an uptick in complaints in the months leading up to an election.
If violations are found, the parties can negotiate a settlement and bring that to the commission. If a complaint lacks merit, it is dismissed, according to the FPPC website.
Cal State Fullerton political science professor Stephen Stambough said it’s relatively easy for citizens to file complaints and that they file them for different reasons.
“Part of it is motivation to find an angle that will work in telling a narrative against an opponent but part of it may be frustration over something they feel wronged by, and they want to go through the process of having a hearing for that,” Stambough said. “Politics is a repeated game. Even if the ruling on this wouldn’t come down until after the election or something is found later in the investigation, you can use that the next time around in terms of deterring someone from running.”
Many complaints surrounding the candidates of local races relate to the disclosure of information on forms required of all public officials and candidates for office.
There are numerous local examples from the last year alone.
One involves allegations from the Costa Mesa Sanitary District that the Mesa Water District may have improperly used public money to advocate in favor of Measure TT, an advisory ballot question asking voters if the two agencies should pursue a merger.
The water district, which sponsored the measure, says the allegations against it are untrue, but the sanitary district stands by its allegations. The FPCC has yet to rule.
In November 2015, Balboa Island resident Bob McCaffrey filed a complaint with the FPPC against council candidate Jeff Herdman for allegedly receiving campaign contributions prior to filing a mandatory form.
Herdman is running against Lee Lowrey, whom McCaffrey supports, and Mike Glenn for the District 5 seat.
After an investigation, the agency fined Herdman $200.
Herdman said his detractors have used the complaint for fodder.
“They’ve spun that into hit pieces, basically claiming that I’m corrupt,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think the complaints hold much weight with voters.
Earlier in 2015, Herdman himself sent a letter to the FPPC alleging that a campaign contribution Newport Councilman Scott Peotter received violated the Political Reform Act and city code. Peotter, who ran on the Team Newport slate, denied wrongdoing. The FPPC hasn’t ruled.
In the Costa Mesa City Council race, the FPPC is looking into a complaint filed by Tim Sesler, a planning commissioner, against City Council candidate John Stephens, which alleges he failed to properly disclose information related to the income he receives from his law firm.
Stephens has since filed an amended economic interest disclosure form, indicating he has no sources of income that meet the agency’s reporting threshold.
A complaint against Ocean View School District board President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, who is up for reelection, is another open case, albeit an older one. It was filed by a resident in August, alleging reimbursements by a teachers association for campaign spending weren’t properly documented in 2012.
“Any time a complaint comes into a government agency it should be taken seriously,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “Being that this was from 2012, I was surprised by it, since there was no complaint or concern at that time.”
Another FPPC complaint in the same Huntington Beach school district was recently dismissed. The state cleared candidate Kathryn Gonzalez, who was accused by a former city planning commissioner of not properly stating on a disclosure form her income from her employer. But the FPPC found she didn’t need to since her employer isn’t currently doing business within Ocean View boundaries.
Michael Glenn, who is vying for the District 5 seat in Newport, said he’s seen FPPC complaints used as a tactic to discredit candidates.
He said sometimes the complaints have resulted from a simple error on the part of the candidate and complaints exploiting that error should be “taken with a grain of salt.” However, he said, watching the reaction of the candidate in question also can be telling.
“It’s about catching that headline, but it’s also a test to see what your opponents’ reactions are going to be,” Glenn said. “If they come out and give you misleading information, that’s an entirely different thing. When they really hurt candidates is when people start trying to cover up their error.”
Longtime Newport Beach campaign consultant Dave Ellis has another view.
Ellis said he’s not a supporter of candidates filing frivolous complaints against opponents, and said the agency is there to investigate legitimate violations.
However, he added, the investigations stemming from the complaints often would in years past be used as content in mailers against a candidate after it gained media attention.
But, he doesn’t see FPPC complaints generate the headlines like they did in years past.
“The press doesn’t take the bait anymore,” he said.
Staff writer Luke Money contributed to this report.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
