A former Santa Clara official is being fined for multiple campaign violations years after losing a Santa Clara County supervisor race.
Former Santa Clara Councilmember Dominic Caserta was slapped with a $22,500 fine from the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) over misuse of campaign funds in his 2018 bid for the District 4 Board of Supervisors seat. Caserta also allegedly failed to report the expenditures properly. The FPPC unanimously approved the fine at its meeting Thursday, with Commissioners Elsa Ortiz and E. Dotson Wilson absent.
Prior to approval, Commissioner Catharine Baker asked how the fine amount was decided. Chief of Enforcement James Lindsay responded that the initial violations were sometimes counted multiple times, because of how the funds were categorized, resulting in 13 violations with a potential maximum fine of $65,000. After consolidating the duplicates, the number of violations fell to five, with a potential maximum of $25,000.
The FPPC complaint said some counts received a reduced fine because Caserta admitted he should have taken better care of the funds and because the violations were an isolated incident, among other justifications.