State clears Ocean View school board candidate Kathryn Gonzalez in resident’s complaint
An investigation into a complaint filed with the state against a candidate for the Ocean View School District board in Huntington Beach found no wrongdoing, according to a letter from the Fair Political Practices Commission that was reviewed Thursday by the Daily Pilot.
The FPPC, a state watchdog agency that oversees public officials and candidates, closed its review of Kathryn Gonzalez, according to the letter, which is dated Wednesday.
Former Huntington Beach Planning Commissioner Mark Bixby last month filed the FPPC complaint, asserting that Gonzalez did not not properly state her employment income from the Federal National Mortgage Assn., or Fannie Mae, on a state disclosure document known as Form 700.
However, the FPPC found no error since Gonzalez and her employer don’t do business with the Ocean View School District. Therefore, she’s not required to disclose her income on the form.
“I am very happy to announce I am in compliance with the FPPC and totally cleared of Mr. Bixby’s accusations,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “The facts are that I personally answered all of Mr. Bixby’s questions relating to this, and yet he still filed.”
Bixby confirmed that he and Gonzalez had a phone conversation in late September regarding her work with Fannie Mae.
Bixby’s complaint claimed that Gonzalez’s employer “conducts real property transactions for foreclosed property nationwide, including within OVSD boundaries.”
In a letter Bixby received Wednesday from the FPPC, the enforcement division informed him that Fannie Mae does not appear to be doing business in Ocean View’s jurisdiction and that the agency would be “closing this matter.”
Bixby said Thursday that he stands by “the basis I had in filing my original complaint, but if the FPPC wants to determine that this has no violation, then that’s their prerogative,” Bixby said.
Another complaint in Ocean View race
The FPPC complaint against Gonzalez isn’t the only one in the Ocean View school board race.
Huntington Beach resident Denise Kavanaugh filed a complaint against board President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, who is up for reelection, claiming that the Ocean View Teachers Assn. political action committee reimbursed Clayton-Tarvin for campaign costs during the 2012 election but the contribution was not reported on her disclosure document known as Form 460.
The complaint, filed in August, claims the association purchased mailers and phone banks for Clayton-Tarvin but that also was not listed.
“I supported her, I voted for her … but I started to look into things and there were things that didn’t seem right,” Kavanaugh said this week.
“Being that this was from 2012, I was surprised by it, since there was no complaint or concern at that time,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “The teachers association has the ability to run an independent expenditure campaign. … I would not put that on my Form 460; it’s not an expenditure I made.”
The FPPC has not yet made a decision regarding Kavanaugh’s complaint, a spokesman said.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
