Allegedly Shady Super PAC Money Flowing Into LA City Council Race, Candidates Say
Campaigns for both City Councilman Paul Koretz and challenger Jesse Creed are crying foul, claiming the other is being supported by shady, unscrupulous super PACs — unlimited, difficult-to-trace donations.
The Koretz campaign has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission against an independent expenditure committee (aka super PAC) supporting Creed, the 31-year-old attorney running against the two-term councilman in the Westside's District 5.
The complaint concerns a $15,000 donation made by Creed's aunt, Donna Optican, to the Committee to Protect Our Neighborhoods.
In Los Angeles, there are strict limits on how much money individual contributors can give candidates in local elections. But donations to independent expenditure committees are unlimited, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that these types of independent campaigns are free speech. According to state regulations, independent expenditure committees must identify, in any advertisement, who their biggest donors are. The independent expenditure committees (or I.E.s) also must be independent from the candidate's campaign; no coordination between the two entities is allowed. The California Fair Political Practices Commission considers any I.E. "established, run, staffed in a leadership role or principally funded by an individual who is an immediate family member of the candidate" to be coordination.
Read more: http://www.laweekly.com/news/allegedly-shady-super-pac-money-flowing-into-city-council-race-candidates-say-7965050
