Stealing from your campaign funds

Dipping into your Campaign Funds

Funds are for camplaigns not to remodel your home!

On Tuesday, Joe Canciamilla, Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder, confirmed he has resigned from his position as county clerk-recorder and Thursday will be his last day.

Canciamilla said Tuesday that he thought it was a good time to retire and is leaving the County in good hands.

“The office is running well and I believe, for a number of reasons that now is a good time to move on.  It has been a real honor to lead this department and I know that I am leaving it in good hands.  After being in public service for most of my life I am looking forward to what comes next,” said Canciamilla in an email.

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who served with Canciamilla on the Board of Superivsors, said will be missed.

“Joe has provided a lifetime of dedicated public service to our county’s residents – as a school board member, city councilmember, county supervisor, state legislator and county clerk. He will be missed,” said Gioia.

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff called him a great public servant.

“Joe has been a great public servant. I am sorry to see him leave county service but understand his desire to pursue other personal interest and I wish him well,” said Mitchoff.

Supervisor Diane Burgis thanked Canciamilla for his service.

“I wish Joe the best after a lifetime of public service and thank him for all he has done for our Contra Costa County. He will be missed,” said Burgis.

Canciamilla was first elected to public office at the age of 17 when he earned a seat on the Pittsburg Board of Education where he served 4-terms before moving onto the Pittsburg City Council.  By 1996, he was elected to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and served in the California State Assembly.

Canciamilla became Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder after succeeding Steve Weir in 2013. He then won election in 2014 and 2018.

The County Board of Supervisors will get to decide how to fill the County-Clerk position either through a special election or an appointment process at a future meeting.

Back in April, we had Joe Canciamilla on our podcast.

We chatted about how Conditional Voter Registration works, possibly going to 100% vote by mail, upcoming primary next March, what election night is like for him. Finally, we get into the need for the public to get educated on candidates/issues and demand more transparency from government rather than accept mediocrity.

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Longtime East Bay politician allegedly spent campaign funds on Hawaii remodel

Longtime East Bay politician allegedly spent campaign funds on Hawaii remodel

Alexei Koseff Nov. 8, 2019 Updated: Nov. 8, 2019 9:57 p.m.

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.

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“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.

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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.

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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

Alexei Koseff

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Alexei Koseff is a state Capitol reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, covering Gov. Gavin Newsom and California government from Sacramento. He previously spent five years in the Capitol bureau of The Sacramento Bee, reporting on everything from international recruiting by the University of California to a ride service for state senators too drunk to drive. Alexei is a Bay Area native and attended Stanford University. He speaks fluent Spanish.

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• VA chief to Gavin Newsom: Do something about PG&E outages

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