Report: Ramani campaign erred

Sunder Ramani failed to properly file fundraising reports earlier this year during his campaign for the 43rd Assembly District, but the state Fair Political Practices Commission did not issue a fine after concluding his campaign treasurer was unaware of the rules.

In a letter to Ramani and campaign treasurer Pamela Corradi, the commission’s enforcement division chief, Gary Winuk, wrote that they did not file 33 electronic reports of contributions of $1,000 or more electronically within the required 24 hours.

But investigators for the commission also determined that Corradi, as treasurer for Ramani for Assembly 2010, was not aware of the requirement for the reports. And since she filed the reports immediately when notified, “we have decided to close this case,” according to the decision letter.

The letter is dated Aug. 17, but a spokeswoman for the commission said the candidates are given 10 days to respond before the conclusion of an investigation is made public.

Ramani said he was happy the commission determined the mistakes were unintentional.

“I was very pleased to get that,” he said. “It was nice to know they felt the same way we did.”

The Political Reform Act can prompt fines of $5,000 per violation. In this case, “the enforcement division did have enough proof to show a violation, but determined it is not in the best interest of the people of California to issue a fine,” commission spokeswoman Tara Stock said.

The complaint centers on a failure to immediately report large donations in the 90 days prior to the primary election in April 2010, Corradi said Thursday.

Ramani won the Republican Party nomination in the Assembly race, but subsequently lost a June special election to Democrat Mike Gatto, who’s serving the remaining months in the seat vacated by now-Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian.

Ramani and Gatto will square off in November for the full Assembly term.

“I was not aware that electronic filing needed to go 90 days ahead of time,” Corradi said. “We complied immediately upon the realization that I made a mistake, and it won’t happen again, trust me.”

FOR THE RECORD: This amends an earlier version that mistakenly referred to Corradi as a campaign manager.