Six lawmakers quizzed by state ethics enforcer
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State Assemblyman Charles Calderon may end up on the ‘naughty’ list of both Santa Claus and the state’s ethics watchdog agency for allegedly using political funds to pay for a $400 Christmas gift to his brother, state Sen. Ron Calderon.
Assemblyman Calderon, who like his brother is a Democrat from Montebello, is one of six state legislators who have been questioned in recent days about whether they complied with rules regarding gifts, according to records released Tuesday by the state Fair Political Practices Commission.
Others queried by the agency’s enforcement staff include Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), Assemblyman Isadore Hall III (D-Compton), Sen. Curren Price (D-Inglewood), Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco).
Charles Calderon’s use of his political officeholder account to pay for a $400 Nordstrom gift card as a Christmas gift for his brother might have violated rules that say ‘campaign funds shall not be used to make personal gifts unless the gift is directly related to a political, legislative or governmental purpose,’ according to a May 6 letter to the lawmaker from enforcement staffer Adrianne Korchmaros.
She also wrote letters saying the $420 annual limit on gifts appears to have been exceeded when Price, Hall and Mendoza received gifts worth $501 to $659 from the California Independent Voter Project. They were also asked by the agency to respond to the allegations. Ammiano received a $451 gift from Another Planet Entertainment. He told the agency that he paid it back, but the ethics officials asked for documentation to show whether the repayment occurred within the 30 days allowed.
Lowenthal received tickets worth $1,380 to the Grand Prix of Long Beach from the Port of Long Beach. He was issued a warning letter after he paid the port back, but after a deadline for doing so, the ethics agency said. A Lowenthal aide said the deadline was missed because of a delay by the port in providing information on the gift.
The latest enforcement by the commission comes a few months after it levied fines against 26 other state lawmakers for failing to disclose gifts.
[Updated at 4:40 p.m.: Mendoza said he does not believe he violated the gift rules. He said the $659 in air fare to Hawaii that he reported as a ‘gift’ on his annual economic interest statement is ‘not subject to [gift] limits because it was in connection with speaking at the conference for the California Independent Voter Project.’
FPPC officials said they would consider his argument and provide him with a written response.
State rules say a gift is ‘any payment or other benefit provided to you that confers a personal benefit for which you do not provide goods or services of equal or greater value.’
Aides for Hall and Price said they plan to amend their reports of economic interest to reflect that the ‘gifts’ they received are expenses for a conference and not subject to the gift limit.]
-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento
