Ex-Oakland Mayor Schaaf agrees to pay $21,000 fine for breaking campaign rules

Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has agreed to pay $21,000 in penalties to settle claims that she violated election rules by failing to disclose her involvement in campaigns to pass a city ballot measure and defeat two incumbent City Council candidates.

Investigators from the enforcement unit of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission issued three separate reports Friday examining the alleged violations and recommended combined penalties of more than $50,000 for the former mayor. Schaaf secured a deal for a lesser fine, according to her attorney, Gary Winuk.

The investigators said Friday that Schaaf’s activities appeared to be due to a misunderstanding of the law. “Respondents are now admitting liability to the violations in this agreement, thereby taking responsibility for what occurred and working with the PEC to redress any harm caused,” they wrote.

Winuk said in a statement Friday that the cases “stem from Schaaf’s mistaken reliance on incorrect legal advice she received in 2018, when she was advised she could assist the campaigns as long as she held no decision-making authority over them.”


https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/schaaf-campaign-ethics-violations-penalty-19745308.php