By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large

The elected City Attorney and a majority of the sitting City Council members in Chula Vista violated state laws by failing to properly disclose their campaign expenditures despite the issue having been the subject of past media coverage.

City Attorney Marco Verdugo, Councilman Jose Preciado, Councilman Cesar Fernandez, and Councilwoman Carolina Chavez failed to properly detail how their campaign funds were spent for literature mailed to voters in the City.

Marco Verdugo

 

Verdugo and Fernandez shared the same political consultant —Dan Rottenstreich— who is listed as having provided their campaign literature.

Cesar Fernandez

 

Rottenstreich is the owner of Amplify Campaigns, a Chula Vista political consulting firm that manages campaigns, but his company does not print or mail literature.

Amplify pays sub-vendors the majority of the money it collected for mailing services, but the campaigns failed to report the names of any sub-vendors for tens of thousands of dollars spent by the campaigns  as is required by state law.

During the 2022 election cycle, Amplify ran campaigns for the San Diego County Democratic Party and properly disclosed sub-vendors for printing and mailing services.

Preciado and Chavez both used a company named Margin Victories for political consulting during their 2022 elections and listed the company for literature printing, even though that company does not provide any such services.

 

Jose Preciado

 

Preciado also listed TMC Direct, a company that manages printing and mailing services for campaigns but does not provide those services directly.

Carolina Chavez

 

Margin Victories is owned by Jehoan Espinoza, a close associate and former employee of political consultant Jesus Cardenas, who was convicted last year of two felonies for fraudulently receiving both a COVID-era federal PPP loan and unemployment benefits to which he was not qualified. 

Espinoza also lived in the same house as Andrea Cardenas, the Chula Vista Councilwoman who resigned her seat after she was convicted of two felonies along with her brother, Jesus Cardenas.

In October 2023, La Prensa San Diego published an article titled “Massive Campaign Cheating Scheme Run by Democratic Consultants” that detailed how Cardenas and Espinoza used TMC Direct for all of the campaign literature for several campaigns they managed without disclosing any sub-vendors who performed the printing and mailing services.

La Prensa San Diego reached out to TMC Direct principal Tony Turpin for that article, but he refused to provide the names of any sub-vendors used for the campaigns mentioned in the article.

The story detailed how City Council candidates in Chula Vista and National City, as well as Nora Vargas’ campaign for County Supervisor, all failed to properly report sub-vendors for printing and mailing services.

Preciado was included in that October 2023 article, yet he has not amended his campaign filings to include sub-vendors used in his 2022 election. 

In their most recent campaign filings, all four Chula Vista politicians failed to properly report any sub-vendors for printing services, as well as disclosing who paid the US Postal Service for the postage for the mailings.

Verdugo reported paying Amplify during his 2024 election for “campaign literature and mailings”, as well as for “campaign digital ads” but those services were provided by undisclosed sub-vendors.

Fernandez reported paying Amplify during his 2024 election for “postage, delivery and messenger services”, “campaign literature and mailings”, “information technology costs”, and “phone banks” without listing any sub-vendors.

Preciado reported paying Margin Victories during his 2022 election for “campaign literature and mailings” and “information technology costs”, as well as listing TMC Direct for “campaign literature and mailings”, without listing any sub-vendors.

Chavez reported paying Margin Victories during her 2022 election for “campaign literature and mailings” and “information technology costs” without listing any sub-vendors.

The two other members of the Chula Vista City Council --Mayor John McCann and Councilman Michael Inzunza- properly listed the names of printing companies they used, as well as disclosing payments made to the US Postal Service for postage.

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission oversees and investigates campaigns throughout the state, even in cities that have their own campaign finance laws, including Chula Vista.

The City of Chula Vista has its own Charter and Municipal Code regulations for local campaigns, but those are in addition to state laws that govern the disclosure of campaign expenditures.

The City’s Municipal Code specifically requires that “all local candidates should be aware that they must comply with this chapter, as well as the [California Political Reform Act] and the FPPC regulations, when participating in a local election campaign.”

California Government Code Section 18421 requires “reporting of expenditures by an agent or independent contractor” for “expert advice, expert analysis, or campaign management services, including but not limited to analysis, advice, or management services in connection with any of the following”, including “ Design or management of campaign literature or advertising”, “Printed campaign literature”, “Advertising time or space”, “Campaign buttons and other campaign paraphernalia”, and “Postage for campaign mailings.”

The violations of state law are more concerning for Verdugo who not only is an attorney, but he serves as the City’s chief lawyer and has the power and responsibility under the City’s Charter to “prosecute, in the City Attorney’s professional discretion, all offenses against the ordinances of the City and such offenses against the laws of the State as may be authorized or required by law.”

Verdugo is violating the very laws he is supposed to enforce.

The FPPC investigates candidates and campaign committees, and can impose fines for violations of state campaign laws.

LINK:
La Prensa San Diego
https://laprensa.org/massive-campaign-cheating-scheme-run-democratic-consultants
Oct 10, 2023