Ferguson Broke Loan Reporting Law in ’90 Campaign, Agency Says

Congressional candidate Anita Perez Ferguson violated federal campaign laws by failing to disclose more than $52,000 in loans and donations in a timely manner at the end of her unsuccessful 1990 campaign, a federal watchdog agency has found.

The Democratic candidate agreed to pay a $2,000 fine to the Federal Election Commission in a settlement of the complaint against her campaign for not reporting the loans and contributions within 48 hours, as required by federal law.

Ferguson said the case was merely a technical violation caused by a mix-up in the final hectic days before the 1990 election, when she personally lent her campaign $35,500 and received other donations.

“For a $250,000 campaign, a $2,000 fine is a minimal one, being our first time out,” said Ferguson, who is making her second bid for Congress in Ventura County’s new 23rd Congressional District.

She said many candidates are tripped up by technical reporting requirements, and every dollar received by her campaign ultimately was properly accounted for on financial statements filed a month later with the commission.

“We ended up with a $2,000 penalty which we have already started to pay,” Ferguson said. “Fortunately, they have an easy payment plan.”

Fred Eiland, the commission’s top spokesman, agreed that some candidates do not realize that personal loans must be reported within 48 hours of their receipt at the end of campaigns. But only a small fraction, less than 1%, end up facing enforcement action by the six commissioners.

“The commission looks upon reporting violations as a serious offense because the intent of the law is full public disclosure made on time and accurately,” Eiland said. The purpose of the law, he said, “is to let the voters and contributors know as much as they can before the election so they can make up their minds what to do.”

The violation occurred during Ferguson’s 1990 campaign to unseat Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) in the old 19th Congressional District that covered western portions of Ventura County and all of Santa Barbara County.

In this election, she is vying for the Democratic nomination to oust Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) from the new 23rd Congressional District that covers Carpinteria and all of Ventura County except Thousand Oaks.

So far, Ferguson will face environmental activist Kevin Sweeney and Paul Dolan of Oxnard in the Democrats’ June 2 primary.

Dolan, who owns an advertising and marketing business in Ventura, announced his candidacy Tuesday after he pulled election papers signaling his intention to run. “I’m a maverick Democrat,” said Dolan, who left the Republican Party in 1988.

Ferguson is the most prominent of the Democratic challengers, with high name recognition left over from her 1990 campaign, according to recent polls.

It was during the last 10 days of the 1990 campaign that Ferguson lent the campaign $35,500, collected another $14,000 in loans from three friends and received a $2,331 in-kind contribution for the printing of campaign materials, records show.

The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 requires campaigns to report such “last-minute” contributions within 48 hours of their receipt. But they were not reported until 30 days after the campaign was over.

In another financial matter, Ferguson said the commission has instructed her to return a $4,000 contribution from a pro-business group in Puerto Rico.

She said the group, the 50th Anniversary Popular Democratic Party, lacks the federal identification number required for donors to federal candidates. She met some of the group’s representatives at a Hispanic Heritage Week festival in Washington three years ago.

Ferguson plans to reimburse the group the $4,000 as soon as her campaign can afford it.

All told, Ferguson has lent her campaign $42,542.

And this year’s campaign has collected about $10,000 in donations so far, Ferguson said. “We are hoping to have contributions come in earlier in the campaign, so we don’t have the last-minute rush,” she said.