Ex-LA mayor Riordan fined by Ethics Commission
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan was ordered Thursday to pay an $11,250 ethics fine for failing to include required disclaimer language on communications supporting three candidates for Los Angeles Unified School District board seats.
The fines were approved by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, which found that Riordan violated rules aimed at ensuring people know who is spending money to send out campaign materials.
Riordan sent out electronic communications in 2013 expressing support for LAUSD board candidates Monica Garcia, Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez, but he neglected to include language saying those materials were not authorized by the candidates themselves and their committees, Ethics Commission investigators wrote in a report.
Riordan spent $30,000 on those messages, and sent them out to about 500,000 people, investigators said.
Riordan did disclose the independent expenditures and submitted copies of the communications to the Ethics Commission, investigators said.
Riordan has admitted to the violation and agreed to pay the $11,250, which is 75 percent of the $15,000 in possible penalties, investigators said. Each of the three violations carries a maximum penalty of $5,000.
The total fine amount is meant to “reflect the serious nature of the violations and Riordan’s prior enforcement history, while fostering cooperation with Ethics Commission Ex-LA mayor Riordan fined by Ethics Commission - MyNewsLA.com: