School Board Candidate Hu Spending More Than First Claimed

While first time and disclosed financial statements to the county that showed they intended to receive or spend more than $1,000 for their campaigns during the calendar year, first time signed a form in August saying he anticipated not reaching the $1,000 limit, Patch reported Monday.

But Hu has since spent well above the amount he expected to raise: about $6,000 so far, Hu confirmed to Patch.

If Hu acquired or spent $1,000 or more in contributions during July 1 to Sept. 24, he was required to submit forms by Sept. 29 that detailed those financial transactions.

Hu told Patch Wednesday that he spent about $5,000 of his own money printing out 5,000 Chinese and English fliers to send to residents earlier this month and mailed out 600 to 700 fliers, but did not send the rest since postage got too expensive. 

“I thought I didn’t need to do that much,” Hu told Patch about his prior expectations of running a low-cost school board campaign. “I encourage people not to spend too much money.”

Hu said he also spent $900 on two quarter-page advertisements in the San Marino Tribune.

Personal funds of the candidate used to pay filing or ballot statement fees are not counted toward the $1,000 threshold, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The next deadline for candidates to submit campaign finance documentation to L.A. County is Oct. 27 for contributions received or spent during Sept. 25 to Oct. 22. Candidates are penalized $10 for each day a form is late.

Hu said since he purchased the fliers during the Sept. 25 to Oct. 22 period, he will be reporting his expenses to the county by Oct. 27.

Since Hu spent over the $1,000 threshold, he is also now required by Oct. 27 to file a Statement of Organization form and a Recipient Committee Campaign Statement form, and possibly a supplement to the form he previously filed, according to FPPC Campaign Disclosure Manual 2, Chapter 4. 

What Defines a Contribution?

Chapter 2 of the FPPC manual states:

A “contribution” is a monetary or nonmonetary payment received by a candidate or committee for which the candidate or committee has not provided full and adequate consideration in return. (See the definition of “contribution” in Appendix 1.) A contribution may take any of the following forms:
• Money (cash, check, credit card, wire transfers);
• Nonmonetary items (donated goods or services, discounts);
• Payments made by a third party for advertising or other communications (see Chapter 4);
• Loans (including loan guarantees, cosigning, and lines of credit);
• Money, nonmonetary items, and loans from the candidate to his or her own committee or from the candidate’s family; and
• Enforceable promises (for example, a contributor promises, in writing, to pay for specific goods or services and, based on that written promise, the committee expends funds or enters into a legally enforceable contract to purchase the goods or services).