Is the Santa Ana City Clerk Michele Martinez’s Campaign Treasurer?

June 30, 2010 Uncategorized 4

I received an e-mail announcing Councilwoman Michele Martinez’s last minute push to raise money before the deadline, which is today, and also announcing her upcoming event next week. You can read the flier HERE. Notice anything wrong?

Look carefully.

The flier asks you to call the Santa Ana City Clerk, Maria Huizar, if you have any questions regarding donations to Councilwoman Martinez. Now I am not the biggest campaign finance expert in the world, but I have the sneaky suspicion that is ILLEGAL to use the City Clerk as your personal Treasurer. In fact isn’t that what she is paying the David L. Gould Company to do? Any questions regarding campaign finance laws should be directed to the campaign treasurer, not the City Clerk. She is essentially using Ms. Huizar at the taxpayer expense to instruct potential donors on campaign finance rules.

No councilmember has been that blatant. SO I wonder, was this just a simple oversight? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you can’t use city officials for campaign purposes. Looks like it’s back to Campaign Finance 101 for you, Michele.

4 Comments

  1. Government Code section 8314 states:

    “It shall be unlawful for any elected officer, appointee, employee, or consultant to use or permit others to use state resources for a campaign activity . . . which [is] not authorized by law.”

    California Penal Code Section 424
    a) Each officer of this state, or of any county, city, town,
    or district of this state, and every other person charged with the
    receipt, safekeeping, transfer, or disbursement of public moneys, who:
    1. Without authority of law, appropriates the same, or any
    portion thereof, to his or her own use, or to the use of another;
    Is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three,
    or four years, and is disqualified from holding any office in this
    state.

    IMMEDIATELY call State Attorney General Jerry Brown at 800)952-5225 and ask him to file criminal charges against Ms. Martinez then call the Fair Political Practices Commission at 866)275-3772 and ask to investigate and fine her then call the Clerk of the Santa Ana City Council at 714)647-6520 and demand that Ms.Martinez resign IMMEDIATELY.

  3. What a bozo!!

    Mistake or not – this is an indication that she believes that the resources of the City of Santa Ana are for her personal use – disgusting!

  4. Anyone else get a call for campaign donations from Pulido shaking you down for cash for his puppet Tinajero? Didn’t Pulido say just four years ago that Tinajero was the worst school board member in the country?

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