By Terry Miller
The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has concluded its investigation of Arcadia Councilman Tom Beck for alleged campaign violations related to timely reporting of contributor information in Arcadia’s municipal election. In doing so, the FPPC found absolutely no evidence of intent to conceal information.
The complaint, originally filed by an unknown citizen of Arcadia, was part of a seemingly endless number of complaints handed to the FPPC during the last election in Arcadia. Most, if not all, candidates were targeted at some point with a FPPC complaint.
The FPPC stated “ In the matter of Beck for City Council 2018, Tom Beck, and Michael G. Hoover; FPPC No. 18/315 (Streamline Settlement). Staff: Chief of Enforcement Galena West and Political Reform Consultant Chloe Hackert. Tom Beck was a successful candidate for Arcadia City Councilmember in the April 10, 2018 election. Beck for City Council 2018 is his candidate-controlled committee. Michael G. Hoover is the committee’s treasurer. The committee, Beck, and Hoover failed to timely report contributor information on pre-election campaign statements for the reporting periods of Jan. 1, 2018 through Feb. 24, 2018 and Feb. 25, 2018 through March 24, 2018, in violation of Government Code Section 84211 (2 counts). Total Proposed Penalty: $454.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Councilman Beck told Arcadia Weekly: “We timely reported all donations but two of the donations were reported with amount and name of contributor but not their full address. When brought to our attention we supplied the missing addresses. We were fined $200 for each address we forgot to include ($200 multiplied by two) and a fine of $54. It’s a shame that the person who reported this for political reasons wasted a lot of resources of the FPPC when they could have better used their time on real problems.”
