Candidate Misses Fund Report Deadline

Torrance school board member Owen Griffith has not provided a complete reporting of his campaign finances to election officials, even though he expects to spend about $6,000 in his reelection bid.

The reason, Griffith said, is that he realized only two weeks ago that he would spend more than $1,000 campaigning for one of two seats on the Torrance Unified School District board that are up for grabs in Tuesday’s election.

That meant Griffith missed the Oct. 19 deadline for filing an itemized report with the county registrar. That report must be provided by candidates who receive or spend $1,000 or more.

As a result, Griffith will not have to file a complete report until early next year. He is, however, filing the required reports about any contributions exceeding $1,000 that he received after the Oct. 19 deadline.

Griffith, a 24-year incumbent, is one of five candidates running for the two board seats.

Another incumbent, David Sargent, filed reports showing that he has received $8,213 in contributions and spent $4,301. The three challengers--T. Andrew Beck, Robert Thompson and Paul Mark O’Brien--all said Thursday that they do not plan to exceed $1,000.

Beck criticized Griffith, saying, “We have no idea who his campaign contributors are.”

But Griffith said the late filing was “not intentional on my part.” His campaign got a late start because he had to switch treasurers, he said.

Griffith said he would be willing to furnish a complete report of his campaign finances by Monday, if possible. He said it would not include any surprises and that he expects to raise about $2,500 and contribute about $3,500 of his own money to the campaign.