As if San Jose Councilman Xavier Campos needed any more inquiries into his shoddy past campaign filings—the guy’s already being investigated by the District Attorney’s office and the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). But now the San Jose City Clerk’s office is taking a look back at his work in 2006 as a treasurer for big sis Nora Campos. Currently a state assemblymember (you might want to read this story), Nora had baby bro handle filing duties during her City Council re-election campaign. When Fly took a look back at forms just for kicks, it became clear that the campaign’s last fundraising/expenditure form was missing—not necessarily a shocker with the way the clerk’s office was run in the past. At that time, the clerk kept steno pads to document forms that came into the office. Coincidentally, or not, these notepads are also missing. However, a cross-reference check with Nora’s officeholder account shows that almost $15,000 in surplus campaign funds was unaccounted for when she closed out her campaign committee. There were no outstanding bills noted in previous forms, so it’s not clear where the cash would have gone. City Clerk Toni Taber confirmed with Fly that she’s asking the Campos siblings for any documentation they have to prove the money didn’t just disappear. “We will send a letter to the 2006 Campos campaign that we have missing filings and asking them to provide those that are missing,” she wrote in an email. If misconduct is found it’s unlikely to result in much of a penalty, as the FPPC’s statute of limitations on civil prosecution is four years.
There must be a Statue of Limitations to avoid such witch hunts. This is silly.