Staff: Theresa Gilbertson, Senior Commission Counsel and Roone Petersen, Special Investigator. The respondents were represented by James Sutton of The Sutton Law Firm. Dominic Caserta was an unsuccessful candidate for Supervisor for Santa Clara County in the June 5, 2018 Primary Election. Caserta for Supervisor 2018 was Caserta’s candidate-controlled committee. Caserta served as the Committee’s treasurer. The Committee and Caserta made numerous expenditures using campaign funds that were not compliant with the Act’s restrictions on the use of campaign funds as they had no legislative, governmental, or political purpose and were not made with a purpose consistent with the enumerated permissible uses of surplus funds, in violation of Government Code Sections 89510, 89512, and 89519 (3 counts). Further, the Committee and Caserta failed to timely and accurately report activity on a semi-annual campaign statement, in violation of Government Code Section 84211 (1 count), and failed to maintain detailed campaign records for the Committee’s contributions and expenditures for the life of the Committee, in violation of Government Code Section 84104 (1 count). Total Proposed Penalty: $22,500.
