Fourth Quarter Update
Ethics - Gifts, Honorarium, Travel and Use of Campaign Funds
Regulations adopted by the Commission
The following are regulatory changes approved by the Commission during the past quarter concerning gifts, honorarium, travel, and use of campaign funds. To receive updates for all regulations before the Commission, please sign up for our mailing list here.
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Advice Letters
The following are advice letters issued by the Commission’s Legal Division during the past quarter concerning questions about gifts, honorarium, travel, and use of campaign funds. To receive the monthly report with all advice letters issued, please sign up for our mailing list here.
Gifts
Patrick Ford I-21-123
A transfer of tickets between departments is not relevant to the Form 802 reporting requirements. The Form 802 reporting requirement is triggered by the official using the ticket, at which point the ticket must be reported pursuant to the ticket policy in place, whether city wide or departmental. If the tickets used by an official are provided by an outside source to the City or a department within the City, the outside source should be identified as the source in Part 2 of the Form 802. If an official who files a Form 700 uses a ticket received by the City, including any department, from an outside source and the official is not subject to a ticket policy, the ticket must be reported on the official’s Form 700 as a gift from the outside source. If it is a ticket owned by the City, it can be reported as either a gift or income, but it is the official’s burden to show that it is income
Commission Opinions
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Enforcement Matters
The following are summaries of significant enforcement actions approved by the Commission in the past quarter concerning gifts, honorarium, travel, and use of campaign funds. To receive a monthly report of all enforcement actions, please sign up for our mailing list here.
Gift Over-the-Limit
In the Matter of Devon Mathis; FPPC No. 18/365. Staff: Bridgette Castillo, Senior Commission Counsel and Ann Flaherty, Special Investigator. The respondent was represented by Narek Avetisyan, Esq. Devon Mathis is a member of the California State Assembly representing District 26. Mathis failed to timely report a gift of lodging on the 2016 Annual Statement of Economic Interests, in violation of Government Code Sections 87203 and 87207, subdivision (a)(4) (1 count) and accepted a gift that exceeded the 2016 annual gift limit, in violation of Government Code Section 89503 (1 count). Fine: $5,500.
Legislation
None.
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