Longtime East Bay politician allegedly spent campaign funds on Hawaii remodel
SACRAMENTO — A longtime Contra Costa County politician who resigned suddenly last week as county clerk-recorder has agreed to pay a
$150,000 fine after California’s campaign ethics watchdog found that
he spent political contributions on personal trips and remodeling a
vacation home in Hawaii.
The Fair Political Practices Commission said Friday that its
enforcement staff reached a settlement with Joe Canciamilla on 30
counts of campaign finance violations , including personal use of
$130,529 in campaign funds from 2011 to 2015 and falsifying state
filings to cover up the spending. Each count carries a maximum
$5,000 penalty.
Canciamilla took “full responsibility for this situation, is humbled
and embarrassed, and hopes the FPPC fines won’t severely overshadow
his 46 years of public service to the residents of Contra Costa
County,” his attorney said in a statement.
“Mr. Canciamilla has cooperated with the FPPC, has paid back all
disputed amounts, and all fines listed in the proposed stipulation
have been paid in full,” said the attorney, Andy Rockas.
The commission is scheduled to vote Nov. 21 on whether to formally
approve the settlement, which called for Canciamilla to pay half of
the fine personally and half from campaign funds.
The commission also referred the matter to the county district
attorney’s office, which is conducting a review and could bring
criminal charges.
Canciamilla, 64, was the youngest public official in state history
when he was elected to the Pittsburg school board at age 17. He
later served on the Pittsburg City Council and Contra Costa County
Board of Supervisors before winning the first of three terms in the
state Assembly as a Democrat in 2000.
Canciamilla opened a campaign account for a county judge seat in
2011 but ultimately did not run. He was appointed clerk-recorder in
2013 and won election to the office twice.
Starting in 2011, Canciamilla repeatedly mixed campaign
contributions with his personal funds, an investigation by the Fair
Political Practices Commission’s enforcement staff concluded.
In 2011, Canciamilla transferred $70,000 from his judicial race
committee to a personal checking account, which he then tapped to
open a money market account for that committee. That money was later
transferred back to the checking account and used for personal
purposes, the enforcement division said.
Canciamilla spent more than $36,000 from his clerk-recorder campaign
committee in 2014 for a vacation to Asia, the probe found. The
following year, he allegedly spent another $5,900 on airfare to
London and Washington, D.C., for himself and his wife, a trip that
was later canceled.
Three additional disbursements for personal purposes totaled more
than $19,000 from 2011 to 2014. Canciamilla spent an undisclosed sum
on credit card charges related to the remodel of a home that he
owned in Hawaii, the enforcement staff c said.
Canciamilla allegedly excluded these payments from required campaign
filings and regularly overstated his cash on hand to conceal the
improper spending. The alleged violations were discovered through an
audit of the filings by the Franchise Tax Board, by which time
Canciamilla had partially reimbursed his clerk-recorder committee
about $43,000.
Canciamilla won re-election as clerk-recorder in 2018 but abruptly
resigned last week. He told the East Bay Times he had “decided that now was a good time
to leave” because the office was in good shape and “sometimes life
just happens.”
His attorney said Friday that Canciamilla resigned “so as to not
bring undue hardship to the office while this matter is being
resolved.”
County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff said rumors swirled when
Canciamilla submitted his resignation with only three days’ notice,
but the alleged campaign finance violations surprised her.
“I’m really sad. Joe has been a really good public servant and he
served with honor and distinction, and it’s really sad that his
career ends in this way,” she said. “It reinforces the negative
perception by some in the public that many elected officials can’t
be trusted.”
The Board of Supervisors launched a search for a replacement.
It’s the second time in the past three years that a Contra Costa
County official has left office early because of allegations of
improper campaign spending. In June 2017, then-District Attorney
Mark Peterson resigned as part of a plea deal with the state attorney general’s office over his use of
$66,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. He had been charged
with 13 felonies and pleaded no contest to perjury.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Phil Matier contributed to
this report.
Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
