SAN DIEGO - This week San Diego's leading proponent for open and honest government found himself under fire.
On Monday the Ethics Commission fined City Attorney Michael Aguirre $9,000 for failing to properly report various campaign expenditures his committee made during his bid for office in November 2004.
The implication of wrongdoing couldn't have come at a worse time for Aguirre, a Republican, who has single-handedly lead a nonpartisan fight to acknowledge wrongdoing by city officials concerning the pension deficit. More than any other city official, it's been Aguirre who has steadfastly called for the City Council and pension board to admit fault and comply with the law as defined by the City Charter.
Aguirre's fine resulted from two disclosure violations. According to Ethics Commission Executive Director Stacy Fulhorst, a random audit found that Aguirre failed to disclose $316,306 in payments made to vendors through campaign consultants, and $55,583 in other accrued expenses.
Fulhorst said that Aguirre's campaign committee failed to disclose how it spent the campaign funds, while simultaneously reporting bills when they were paid, but not when they were received.
"In this case, the public did not know prior to the election that Mr. Aguirre's committee paid approximately $225,000 to local television stations for advertising, and approximately $75,000 to various vendors for the production and distribution of campaign mailers," Fulhorst said. "In addition, the public was not informed that the Aguirre committee was carrying more than $50,000 in campaign debts."
According to Fulhorst, other violations were found that didn't result in fines. Aguirre's political adversaries have been slow to disparage him on the matter thus far.
Councilman Scott Peters, one of Aguirre's frequent critics, said the fine indicates the Ethics Commission is doing its job.
"I feel bad for anybody who gets fined, including Mike, but I would say it's important for everyone to be aware of what the rules are and do our best to comply with them," he said.
Aguirre did file amended campaign statements in July and September after he discovered the omissions, but made no excuses for the oversights.
"The fact still remains that we didn't do it correctly the first time and that is my responsibility," Aguirre said. "It is important to get all the information out. I'm in a position that I'm asking others to comply with the law, so I made a judgment to resolve the matter."