Panel seeks big fine from official

A Commerce councilwoman who allegedly misused campaign funds faces a $104,000 penalty.

California’s election watchdog is proposing the largest-ever financial penalty against a local elected official in the case of City of Commerce Councilwoman Tina Baca Del Rio, who is accused of illegally transferring campaign funds into her personal bank account, among other violations.

Baca Del Rio is facing a $104,000 judgment from the state Fair Political Practices Commission. Officials also allege she missed deadlines to respond to the allegations and come to a negotiated settlement with the watchdog agency.

It’s also a rare case of the commission proposing a default action against a politician. Public officials accused of wrongdoing by the commission usually settle with the watchdog on a fine. Baca Del Rio’s penalty, for example, dwarfs the $40,000 fine levied in 2011 against former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who agreed to a settlement for failing to disclose receiving free tickets to sports and entertainment events.

If Baca Del Rio doesn’t pay the judgment, the watchdog could try to take other action to collect, such as placing a lien against her home. The commission has accused her of wrongdoing in the past.

In an interview, Baca Del Rio said she has been responsive to commission officials, that the proposed judgment took her by surprise and that she was waiting for a call back from an official working with her on the case. She also said the complaint that triggered the agency’s investigation was politically motivated.

“I didn’t even know of this information until just a few minutes ago,” Baca Del Rio said in reference to the pro-

posed penalty.

The proposed judgment represents the latest political challenge for the working-class, predominately Latino city of 12,000 residents in southeast Los Angeles County. Since 2010, two City of Commerce councilmen have pleaded guilty to criminal charges over separate allegations, a scheme to hide the true source of campaign contributions and the signing of a false affidavit in support of an attorney suing the city.

Baca Del Rio — who was recalled from the City Council in the 2008 general election and then reelected the next year — is accused of violating the state’s Political Reform Act on 24 counts, most of them for not properly filing campaign finance disclosures from 2011 to 2013, or failing to file them at all. Four of those violations stem from allegations that she spent campaign funds on a kitchen remodel and also transferred $8,134 in campaign cash into her personal bank account.

Of the total fine, $20,000 is for allegedly misusing campaign funds. It’s the part of the fine that she can’t use campaign funds to pay, meaning it will have to come from her own pocket.

According to commission documents, Baca Del Rio’s public filings listed personal loans to her campaign committee and subsequent repayments of those loans, which, if true, would be legal. But investigators gathered her bank records and found no evidence that she lent the money. The agency gave her “ample opportunity” to prove she made the loans, the documents state.

In the interview, Baca Del Rio denied the allegations that she misused campaign funds, saying that her loans to the campaign were real and that she had a right to pay herself back. She also said the money spent on renovations was an innocent mix-up — the bank cards for her personal account and her campaign fund look nearly identical. She said she has paid the misspent money back to the campaign and that she provided the information to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Though the penalty against Baca Del Rio would be the largest ever against a local elected official in California, the watchdog agency has issued bigger fines over statewide issues. In 2014, Sacramento lobbyist Kevin Sloat agreed to a $133,000 fine over prohibited campaign contributions and illegal gifts to state lawmakers.

The commission also levied a $1-million fine in 2013 against a group with ties to the Koch brothers for not properly disclosing $15 million spent on a pair of state ballot proposals.

In a 2011 case, the commission fined Baca Del Rio $26,000 for not filing her campaign disclosures by state deadlines.

The commission is scheduled to approve the judgment at its July 21 meeting.