fitzgerald-460

In this Form 460, for example, we see that super-developers The Irvine Company, have contributed $ 1,000.00 to the campaign of Jennifer Fitzgerald…

Voters would do well to understand who is contributing to the campaigns of the twelve people running for Fullerton City Council in 2016, but most people don’t realize how easy it is to find this information.

Candidates are required by state law to periodically file a Form 460 listing cumulative contributions of $100.00 or more from a single source. These contributions are required  with increasing frequency as election day approaches. Candidates are also required to file a Form 497 within 24 hours of receiving an aggregate contribution of $ 1,000 or more from a single source within 90 days of the election. These forms are filed with the City Clerk’s office in Fullerton, and can be found in that section of the city’s website.

Candidates who have chosen to spend less than $ 2,000 file a Form 470 and are not required to open committees for their campaigns.

Political campaign filings are made both by candidates and committees, like Political Action Committees (PACs). Anyone wishing to find out who is contributing to campaigns or committees, or how they spend this money, can follow a few simple links on the City of Fullerton’s own website:

Go to the City of Fullerton’s home page:

http://www.cityoffullerton.com/default.asp

Scroll down to the bottom and click on “City Clerk’s Office,”

http://www.cityoffullerton.com/gov/departments/city_clerk/default.asp

In the sidebar on the left, click on “Elections,” then

http://www.cityoffullerton.com/gov/departments/city_clerk/elections/default.asp

then click on “Campaign Disclosure Form,”

http://docs.cityoffullerton.com/weblink/Browse.aspx?dbid=1&startid=91026&cr=1

From there, choose the candidate or committee (PAC) of your choice, then choose “460 Campaign Statements,” which are listed in chronological order. The files are PDFs from scanned hard copies filed with the City Clerk.

If a candidate files late, or files incomplete or misleading information, he or she can be fined by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, as Jennifer Fitzgerald was last year, for failing “to disclose details related to her position at the lobbying firm Curt Pringle & Associates.

http://voiceofoc.org/2015/10/state-fines-fullerton-councilwoman-100-for-late-disclosure/

fullerton-website-campaign-statements

Click on “Active Campaign Committees…”

fullerton-website-active

…and then find the committee in the list.