One of the lesser-known privileges of an elected official in California is the right to ask businesses and wealthy individuals to make donations to his or her favorite charities.
Contributions, called requested payments, can take the form of cash or in-kind donations. They are used to raise millions of dollars from special interests that benefit tax-exempt organizations.
Under the system of checks and balances, elected officials must publicly disclose payments made at their request within 30 days, once they exceed $5,000 in a 12-month period.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria acknowledged in a public filing last week that he repeatedly violated the law by failing to report a series of charitable contributions made by outside donors at his request.
According to the San Diego Ethics Commission, Gloria failed to properly report 10 separate contributions he solicited from private contributors — many of whom donated to For All of Us, the charity he helped create in early 2021 to support his favorite causes.
“Defendant violated (the San Diego municipal code) by failing to timely file Forms 803 to disclose the requested payments,” the agreement dated April 11 states.
Gloria agreed to pay a $10,500 fine to resolve the case.
The stipulation shows the ethics investigation was opened shortly after the San Diego Union-Tribune questioned the mayor’s office about the tens of thousands of dollars Gloria raised and spent on behalf of For All of Us , the tax-exempt entity named after his 2020 campaign slogan.
According to the Ethics Commission, Gloria disclosed tens of thousands of dollars in requested payments days after the Union-Tribune first asked her office about the charity.
Most of those donations were reported hundreds of days late, including more than $5,700 donated by For All of Us to host a thank-you event for Gloria. This disclosure was 679 days late. The charity also had not reported spending nearly $6,000 on an event and back-to-school supplies.
A Gloria aide said the mayor self-reported the payments starting last May, after the Union-Tribune raised questions about the contributions.
“Upon discovering these unfortunate oversights, our office immediately filed the necessary paperwork,” mayoral spokeswoman Rachel Laing said by email.
“Our staff have completed several training courses to recognize when orderly payment reporting may be necessary in order to be fully compliant in the future,” she added.
Gloria served two terms on the City Council and two terms in the State Assembly before becoming mayor and was therefore required to file 803 forms for over 15 years.
In total, Gloria and For All of Us failed to properly report some $65,000 in donations and expenses as required.
In addition to the monetary penalty, the mayor also pledged to “take necessary and prudent precautions to ensure compliance with all provisions of the ethics ordinance in the future.”
The $10,500 fine is one of the largest sanctions imposed by the ethics committee.
Supporters of requested payments say the rules allow elected officials to generate revenue for community groups in need that otherwise would not receive public support.
Critics of the practice complain that such solicitations are a way for special interests to curry favor with politicians to gain support for permit applications, development plans or other policy goals.
Gloria is not the only local elected official to have helped create a charity to benefit the work of her office.
Former Mayor Kevin Faulconer raised millions of dollars from corporations and wealthy donors for local nonprofits, including one he started after winning the first election in 2014.
The Faulconer entity called One San Diego adopted a mission statement that included the legal ability to pay for virtually anything the mayor saw fit, including political polling, receptions, office furniture and other expenses.
“The Company will be closely tied to the City of San Diego, as one of the Company’s purposes is to relieve the City of the costs and burden of conducting business on behalf of the Mayor’s Office,” One San Diego founding documents say. .
One San Diego folded as an entity weeks after Faulconer left the mayor’s office due to term limits.
Other local elected officials have raised money for local charities from donors without creating a specific charity to direct spending.
San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott reported last year on a $100,000 payment requested by the Golden Door spa from the Your Safe Place Foundation, a charity created to support a program in its own desk.
The charity was listed as legally delinquent at the time the donation was made, the Union-Tribune reported.
La Mesa council member Colin Parent, currently running for state Assembly, reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in requested payments. Most of that money went to the charity he runs, called Circulate San Diego, the Union-Tribune reported last year.
Members of the San Diego City Council and the county Board of Supervisors also said they have solicited charitable contributions from nonprofit groups whose missions they support.
So did former prosecutor Bonnie Dumanis and former sheriff Bill Gore. The charity Dumanis raised money for was not registered at the time. Gore was appointed by Gloria to the ethics commission last year before withdrawing his name in the face of opposition.
So far this year, Gloria has reported more than $300,000 in requested payments, according to city clerk records.
Most of those contributions went to San Diegans Together Tackling Homelessness, the nonprofit created by the mayor to raise money to support services for people without housing.
No other San Diego city officials have reported requested payments in more than two years.
California Daily Newspapers
