Billboard Firm to Be Fined for Political Effort

Clear Channel Outdoor has agreed to pay $30,000 in fines for failing to properly disclose its role in providing billboards touting candidates, including Rocky Delgadillo in his 2001 run for Los Angeles city attorney, according to documents released Wednesday.

The firm launched a controversial independent expenditure campaign to promote Delgadillo, and the billboard campaign was seen as a factor in his victory over Councilman Mike Feuer.

Delgadillo is currently running for state attorney general.

Clear Channel has admitted 19 violations of city rules requiring full disclosure, according to a settlement agreement to be considered next Tuesday by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Some of the firm’s billboards touted Wendy Greuel for the City Council.

“Failing to fully disclose its sponsorship of the political advertisements ... had the potential to mislead large numbers of voters about whether candidate-controlled committees rather than [Clear Channel] paid for previously identified billboards supporting city candidates Delgadillo and Greuel, thereby making these violations serious,” said a report on the case prepared by the Ethics Commission staff.

The commission had rejected a previous proposal that would have allowed the firm to pay $9,500 in fines, which members said did not reflect the seriousness of the violations.

The maximum penalty that the panel could impose is $95,000.

However, Clear Channel representatives told ethics investigators that the violations were inadvertent, according to the investigative report, which adds that the “commission staff found no evidence of intentional violations.”

Clear Channel and other billboard companies launched independent campaigns in 2001 that provided billboards worth $425,000 in support of Delgadillo in his 2001 battle for city attorney against Feuer, a proponent of tougher billboard regulations.

The 19 counts admitted to by Clear Channel included failing to report seven billboards within 24 hours of when they were put up. Nine counts involved the company’s failure to include on the billboards a statement “disclaiming authorization by the candidate,” which is meant to tell the public that the billboard is an independent expenditure.

Neither Delgadillo nor Greuel are charged in the case.

“Obviously, it’s something that happened independently of Rocky’s campaign, but Rocky believes in transparency in the process and that everyone should play by the rules,” said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the city attorney.

Stephen Kaufman, an attorney for Clear Channel, did not return calls seeking comment.

In two separate cases, the Ethics Commission staff is also recommending settlements with Councilmen Ed Reyes and Dennis Zine.

Reyes agreed to pay a $750 fine for accepting a contribution from Clear Channel that was $250 above the legal limit in his 2001 campaign and failing to maintain proper records for that contribution.

Zine agreed to pay a fine of $5,583 to settle 23 accusations made against him by the commission earlier this year, specifically that he accepted seven contributions that exceeded the $500 limit per individual and that in 16 cases he wrongly asked for matching funds for a total of $2,415.

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Times staff writer Steve Hymon contributed to this report.