Santa Monica Hotel Conceals Campaign Contributions, Faces $310,000 Fine

SANTA MONICA, CA – An upscale Santa Monica hotel has agreed to pay $310,000 in fines for laundering donations to City Council candidates and committees, in order to derail the expansion plans of a competing hotel, according to LA Times. According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), the Huntley Hotel made 62 campaign contributions totaling $97,350 in the names of other people over the course of the 2012 and 2014 election cycles.

The contributions were likely made to oppose the expansion of the competitor – Fairmont Miramar Hotel – according to the FPPC's enforcement division. Local politicians that received the contributions include Ted Winterer, now mayor, and Council members Gleam Davis and Terry O’Day, according to Santa Monica Lookout, along with committee groups Santa Monicans Against Miramar Expansion and Santa Monicans for Responsible Growth.

In 2012 the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, a luxury oceanfront hotel that is located directly in front of the Huntley, was pursuing expanding by building private condos and three new buildings, including a 21-story high-rise tower, according to LA Times. The Huntley Hotel has acknowledged that it violated California's Political Reform Act, which bars donors from obscuring their identities when contributing to campaigns, according to Associated Press.

"Making a campaign contribution in the name of another is one of the most serious violations," the commission's enforcement division wrote in the settlement. "It deceives the public as to the true source of contributions."

The commission must vote on whether or not to accept the $310,000 settlement at a meeting on August 17.

Image via Pixabay