Former councilman Charlie Morales spent more than $3,000 for
office equipment
Gilroy – Former City Councilman Charles Morales has spent $3,400 in left-over campaign contributions on a laptop, pager, printer and other office equipment for his home, according to campaign finance reports covering the first half of 2006.
Since losing a November 2005 bid for a fourth council term, Morales also has made $792 in unitemized expenditures of $100 or less. Of the $5,432 left in his campaign coffers after the election, $1.89 remains.
State election rules allow political candidates to spend contributions on campaign mailers, food, travel and other expenses related to running for and serving in public office. The law treats defeated candidates the same as elected officials as long as they file a form stating their intent to run again in the future. In either case, contributions – or purchases financed by them – must be used only for campaigning or performing the duties of elected office.
Morales, who in December filed the necessary paperwork to keep his committee in good standing for the 2007 election, said his records are in storage and that he could not immediately produce receipts for the expenditures.
“I know that I purchased those items early this year, but the big ticket (items) that I can recall were the computer, the warranty, the filing cabinet and miscellaneous supplies,” he said. “I bought a couple of programs that assist me with letter writing and communicating with officials in Sacramento and the people that I met through Sister Cities,” the cultural exchange program that links Gilroy with half a dozen cities around the world.
Though no longer on council, Morales said he continues to work with various charities and nonprofit groups. His pro bono activities include serving as a liaison for a Sunnyvale church in its effort to restore a missionary church in Mexico, as well as helping Spanish-speaking residents negotiate the development process in Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County. Morales has no definite plans to run for council again in 2007. He said he filed the papers to maintain his campaign committee to “keep my options open.”
Whether in or out of office, state law bars politicians from using campaign money for personal benefit, said Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles and a co-author of many of the state’s election laws.
“The candidate can’t own the property,” he explained. “The campaign committee can own the property … Basically, he can have it in his home but he can’t use it for personal purposes. He has to use it for the campaign only.”
Those who gave contributions to Morales had no qualms with his use of the money.
“I’m not an expert, but I see other state and county candidates with funds left over use it for charitable purposes,” said Ric Heinzen, a local businessman and long-time friend who gave $100 to Morales’ campaign. “If he uses it for a computer, I don’t have a problem with that. It’s something that could conceivably be used for community service. I know Charlie and he has a good heart.”
Albino Moretti also contributed $100 to Morales. He said he never thought about what happens with contributions when a candidate is unseated.
“I feel once it was given to him, whatever he wants to do with it afterward is up to him,” Moretti said.
Defeated candidates who fail to extend the life of their campaign committees, or intentionally terminate them, must follow a strict set of laws on appropriate disbursement of remaining contributions. The law allows for candidates to make political contributions to another candidate, pay debts related to a failed campaign or return funds to contributors.
In Gilroy, those departing office typically direct left-over contributions to charity. Following her failed bid for mayor in 2003, Guadalupe Arellano gave her last $264 to St. Mary’s Youth Group. Former Mayor Tom Springer spent the last of his campaign money on a $200 bank service fee and a $250 donation to the Gilroy Youth Commission.
Those who leave politics in possession of computers and other tangible goods must either reimburse the committee for the equipment or donate it to charity. Morales said he plans on the latter option. In the meantime, he said there was no reason for concern among those who supported his campaign.
“This is for other ventures in support of other nonprofits,” he said. “I’m still doing all the things I used to do before I was a councilman and during that time. I was always a community-minded person, and if someone approached me I am always there to help.”
Since ascending to the mayor’s office four years ago, Al Pinheiro has steered nearly $3,000 in campaign funds to various nonprofit groups. Most recently, he gave $1,000 to the Suzuki Foundation to help send young violinists overseas to perform.
Politicians can legitimately spend campaign funds on many routine expenses, Pinheiro said, but he prefers to dip into contributions only for donations or when running for office.
“As mayor I take people out to meetings all the time,” he said. “The other day I took somebody out to breakfast to talk about a downtown building. You don’t (use campaign money) for any of those things, even though legally I probably have a right to do that. I’d always rather err against myself than leave a question mark.”
