Montgomery Fined $7,900 Over Campaign Funds

Scott Montgomery, who resigned from the Moorpark City Council in 1995 after being charged with criminal conflict of interest, should now pay $7,900 for violating state election law, a judge has ruled.

In a written decision received by state officials Wednesday, Administrative Law Judge Milford A. Maron determined that Montgomery did not disclose numerous contributions during his 1994 run for a county supervisor seat.

Although Montgomery disclosed the information two years later--after the state had begun investigating his campaign finances--Maron wrote that the evidence showed a “significant failure . . . to adhere to strict accounting procedures.”

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission had requested a heavier fine of $11,735. But commission counsel Mark Morodomi, who had argued the case before Maron last month, said Wednesday he was pleased with the decision.

He noted that Maron had imposed the maximum penalty allowed--$2,000 per violation--on what Morodomi considered the three most serious charges, those concerning donations from Moorpark-based A-C Construction.

In May 1994, Montgomery received $250 from the company and $250 from its president, Stephen Anderson. Later that year, Montgomery voted in favor of a special use permit for the company. After the vote, the company made an additional $1,000 contribution.

“This case was about the three A-C Construction contributions,” Morodomi said. “We got a maximum penalty, and we’re happy, because that’s where the public harm was.”

Montgomery said he had not yet seen the decision and wanted to review it before commenting.

During April’s hearing on the charges, Montgomery told Maron that his failure to disclose contributions had been an oversight caused by the overwhelming size of his campaign for supervisor.

“I stand by what I said in court,” he said Wednesday.

Montgomery’s attorney, James Farley, who had also not received a copy of the decision, said he was disappointed.

“I don’t think Scott Montgomery did anything wrong at any point,” he said.

Montgomery will not have to pay the penalty immediately. Maron’s decision must now go to the five-member Fair Political Practices Commission for a vote, which is expected in July. The commission can either accept the decision or reject it and continue pursuing the case.

Once the commission votes, Montgomery will have 30 days to appeal.

Farley said he did not know whether Montgomery would appeal.

Once considered an influential voice on the Moorpark City Council, Montgomery has already faced his share of legal problems. In 1996 he was sentenced to one day in jail, immediately suspended, and three years’ probation over conflict of interest charges.

Those charges, unrelated to the election law violations, stemmed from a $3,500 loan he accepted from a local businessman. After Montgomery received the loan, he voted on a contract between the man’s firm and the city.

In contrast to the earlier case, the election law charges are not criminal in nature.

For most of the violations, Maron assessed relatively minor fines of $100. But Morodomi noted that the commission had not been seeking the full $2,000 penalty on each of the 20 violations.

“The penalties we asked for were proportionate to the amount of public harm we felt [the violations] cost,” he said.