98 Violations of Campaign Contribution laws
This week we filed official complaints with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the City of detailing 98 violations of campaign contribution law by the mayor and two city council members. The complaints detail how Milpitas Mayor Bob Livengood, Citycouncilmembers Giordano and Gomez violated the Political Reform Act and the city's campaign contribution limit.
The complaints spell out violations in three categories:
1. Over the legal limit-46 violations -- Multiple contributions from the same person, or a company controlled by that person, must be aggregated. Section 18215.1 of the Political Fair Practices regulations, part of the comprehensive Political Reform Act, mandages aggregration. This regulation applies to city council candidates, per the FPPC enforcement division. There are 46 violations of contributions over the legal limit. Read FPPC regulation 18215.1 - Contributions-when aggregrated
2. Fake company names -20 violations -- Regulation 84301 requires contributions to be made in the correct, legal name. It’s illegal to make up a company name and report a contribution from a non-existent company. The reason an elected offiical would do this is to hide the actual company name, because that company has given the limit. Ms Giordano and Mr Livengood reported contributions from 20 false company names.
3. Undisclosed employers - In many cases, the required listing of an employer has been omitted. Specifically, if a person is a developer, or owns a development company, reporting the company name on the Form 460 is mandatory. “Self-employed” is not sufficient and is a violation. Politicans sometimes use this tactic to hide multiple contributions, thus hiding an aggregated total over the campaign contribution limits. When a member of the public makes the effort to look at the form 460, it’s difficult to notice at first that these multiple contributions are from the same person.
Giordano falsely reported that one developer, Jeff Affonso, from Irv Guinn Properties in Bakersfield, is a self-employed "cyclist."
Read official complaint to FPPC detailing Mayor Robert Livengood's violations
Read official complaint to FPPC detailing City councilmember Debbie Giordano's violations
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Our initiative will help solve the problem of multiple contributionsby limiting the influence of money in political campaigns and in the decision making process at Milpitas City Hall. When elected officials are allowed to accept campaign contributions from the very companies that have business before them, there is a great danger that those contributions will affect the decision making process. The mayor and city council are more likely to listen to and to vote as the company wishes them to vote, when they have received campaign contributions from those very companies.
In addition, this fundraising distracts public officials seeking reelection from focusing upon important public matters, encourages contributions which may have a corrupting influence, and gives incumbents an unfair fundraising advantage over potential challengers. These campaign contributions undermine the integrity of the governmental process, the competitiveness of campaigns and trust in our local government.
This initiative prohibits the Mayor of Milpitas and the Milpitas City Council from accepting campaign contributions from companies, while those companies have projects before the city and for four years afterwards. This change will limit the corrupting influence of those contributions, and makes city council decisions and elections more fair.
TEXT OF THE INITIATIVE
The Mayor of the City of Milpitas and all Milpitas City Council members, and all candidates for these offices, shall not accept, solicit, or direct a contribution of any amount, from any party, or his or her agent, or from any participant, or his or her agent, while a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use is pending before the Milpitas City Council or Milpitas Planning Commission.
This prohibition shall apply regardless of whether the officer accepts, solicits, or directs the contribution for himself or herself, or on behalf of any other officer, or on behalf of any candidate for office or on behalf of any committee.
This prohibition shall continue for a period of four (4) years following the date a final decision is rendered.
This prohibition shall not apply if the applicant:
a) resides within the city limits of the City of Milpitas and
b) the value of the project associated with the license, permit, or other entitlement for use is less than $100,000
These definitions shall govern the interpretation of this code:
(1) “Party” means any person who files an application for, or is the subject of, a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use.
(2) “Participant” means any person who is not a party but who actively supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use and who has a financial interest in the decision, as described in Article 1 (commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7. A person actively supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding if he or she lobbies in person, members of the Milpitas City Council or the Mayor of Milpitas, testifies in person before the Milpitas City Council, or otherwise acts to influence the Milpitas City Council or the Mayor of Milpitas.
(3) “License, permit, or other entitlement for use” means all business, professional, trade and land use licenses and permits and all other entitlements for use, including all entitlements for land use, all contracts (other than competitively bid, labor, or personal employment contracts), and all franchises.
(4) “Contribution” means contributions to candidates and committees they control, in federal, state, or local elections as defined by government code section 82015.
(5) The “pending” time period shall begin when the participant or agent brings a plan, or a preliminary plan, in any form, or opens a private job account, to any staff member of the City of Milpitas or to the Mayor of Milpitas or to any Milpitas City Council member.
(6) For a participant who opposes a particular decision, the pending time period shall begin when a project is placed on the agenda of the Milpitas Planning Commission or Milpitas City Council.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply that any contribution subject to being reported, shall not be so reported.
A violation of this code shall result in a civil penalty in the amount of three times the benefit or $5,000, whichever is greater.
Contact us: To sign the initiative, or to help us circulate
it, please send an email to:
bill@bill-ferguson.org, or call (408) 946-5096.
Top 10 Deals
- Landmark Towers and the Pham Conglomerate
- Fairfield-Murphy Ranch
- Matteson Development Partners
- Nueterra-Silicon Valley Real Estate
- McCarthy Ranch and Clear Channel Communications
- Integral Communities
- Sinclair Renaissance/Mission Peak Homes
- Milpitas Station - RGC
- Dart Transportation - Dedeaux Enterprises
- Direct Contracts with City of Milpitas