Bustamante dethroned
Cruz Bustamante, former Lt. Governor and possible consultant for the city of Irwindale, lost his throne today as the "King of the Highest FPPC Fine" to Sen. Carole Migden, the Sacramento Bee reported. Bustamante was fined $263,000 in April 2004 for a variety of FPPC violations
Commission approves Migden fine
By Aurelio Rojas - arojas@sacbee.com
Thursday, March 20, 2008California's political watchdog agency today approved an agreement under which state Sen. Carole Migden will pay a record $350,000 fine for 89 campaign spending and disclosure violations, including illegal personal use of campaign funds.
The fine is the largest against a single state official in the Fair Political Practices Commission's three decades of existence and comes as the San Francisco Democrat is battling to retain her seat in a June primary election against Assemblyman Mark Leno and former Assemblyman Joe Nation.
Migden was campaigning in the Bay Area today and did not attend the FPPC hearing.
But her attorney, James Harrison, told reporters the violations occurred because of inadequate record keeping by Migden's former campaign treasurer and his assistant.
Harrison said the senator delegated authority because she was battling cancer at the time and her energy was focused on her duties as an officeholder.
"She's not pointing the finger at anyone," Harrison said. "At the end of the day, she's the candidate and she's responsible."