City attorney says he's looking into Williamson's campaign contributions

Barbra Williamson The Simi Valley city attorney's office is looking into claims that Councilmember Barbra Williamson may have violated campaign finance rules during the 2008 election season, city officials said last week.

"We are looking into it," City Attorney David Hirsch said. "At this point we just have newspaper articles regarding the allegations, and we need to find out the details of those contributions and find out if there has been a code violation."

City Manager Mike Sedell told the Simi Valley Acorn Dec. 2 that an investigation had been launched regarding several contributions made to the Committee to Reelect Barbra Williamson.

This is the first time the city has investigated a candidate's campaign finances.

Williamson said she does not mind if the city looks into her contributions, but she is frustrated because it implies that she did something wrong.

"I don't have any problems with them looking at it; I just don't like my name being out there being muddied up," said the council member, who was appointed mayor pro tem at Monday's City Council meeting. "I don't think it's fair that they should do that."

Hirsch said he could not say why it took a month for the city to decide to conduct an investigation but did say that Sedell had requested his office investigate the accusations presented in the press.

Williamson blames the code, saying that if it were easier to understand it would not have taken the city so long to decide whether to take action.

"The code is written so poorly that they don't know what they wrote," she said. "How can they say I have done something wrong when they can't even decipher their own code?"

Donations to the council member's campaign were first called into question a few days before the November election when it appeared that a number of contributions were from businesses owned or managed by the same person.

The three businesses in question are The Vineyards, an indooroutdoor venue at 2525 Stow St. in Simi Valley; the Malibu Conference Center; and the Morris Gerson Family Co. Inc. Each of the three donated $1,000 on July 7.

The potential for violation lies in the fact that Glen Gerson, whom Williamson called a family friend, owns Calamigos Ranch—also known as the Malibu Conference Center—and is a founder of Morris Gerson management. In 2006, he bought the hilltop parcel, formerly Dakota's, where The Vineyards and Candlelight restaurant now sit.

Local campaign finance laws cap contributions from single donors at $1,000 and state that a candidate cannot accept donations totaling more than $1,000 from separate corporations that are controlled by the same person or persons.

However, if a business makes a $1,000 donation to a candidate, individuals associated with that company can still make their own contributions up to $1,000, as long as it comes from their personal funds.

In fact, five additional donations to Williamson's campaign came from employees at The Vineyards.

Williamson believes that when the city attorney's office looks at her candidate finance report they will find no violation.

"The way I interpret what the code says, I have done absolutely nothing wrong," Williamson said. "All they need to do is take a look at my campaign statement; everything that I have done is in blackand-white."

Hirsch could not say what the investigation would entail but said his office is looking into "the factual issues that relate to the requirements and standards in the code."

Williamson said she had not yet been questioned by or asked to submit anything to the city attorney.

Although Hirsch anticipates bringing the issue to a conclusion "in the relatively near future," he hesitated to give a time frame because it depends on how long it takes to get all the facts.

"This is the first time we have found ourselves investigating this type of matter," he said. "But we will bring it to some kind of closure."

If a violation is found, the city attorney's office could bring civil action against Williamson.

Williamson said she's tired of people making a "big deal" out of the situation. "It's not like I took Indian gambling money or tobacco money or hundreds of thousands of dollars. We're talking $2,000," she said. "I understand it's the principle of the thing, but they are making a federal case out of this."