Last year, it was San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert who ran afoul of the Ethics Commission and received a $6,200 fine for 27 separate violations.
Now the regulatory board that enforces San Diego campaign and ethics rules has found City Councilmember Raul Campillo strayed from the city’s rules governing city elections.
The violations and fine come just months before Campillo asks voters to re-elect him.
In a six-page filing posted on the commission website, Campillo acknowledged that he failed to comply with the city’s campaign rules during his winning 2020 council race. He agreed to pay a fine totaling $2,200.
“Respondent violated (the San Diego Municipal Code) by simultaneously maintaining and using two campaign checking accounts between Dec. 5, 2019 and Nov. 10, 2020,” the stipulation states.
Campillo also broke the rules by “failing to disclose and itemize six contributions of $100 or more received during a campaign statement period” and “by failing to report 17 expenditures of $500 or more by committee agents.”
The District 7 council member cooperated fully with the Ethics Commission investigation, according to the stipulation.
Campillo, who is running unopposed for a second term, also agreed to “take necessary and prudent precautions to ensure compliance with all provisions of (city rules) in the future,” the Ethics Commission filing notes.
The commission is a seven-member board created in 2001 to monitor, administer and enforce the city’s governmental ethics laws.
Board members, who are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council, provide training and education to candidates and elected officials. They also issue formal and informal advice letters and opinions to campaigns and others related to specific election circumstances.
In 2023, the commission issued a total of three stipulations related to campaign and reporting violations. So far this year, two stipulations have been reached.
