Complaint alleges event organized by Costa Mesa Councilwoman Foley improperly mixes charity and political fundraising

The annual Holiday Soiree & Charity Drive organized by Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley is under fire from a former planning commissioner who alleges it misleadingly links charitable giving with her political fundraising.

Colin McCarthy — who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2012 — filed a complaint last week with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, alleging that Foley is “improperly and illegally advertising charity events to the community to raise funds for her political campaign.”

“It’s deceptive and it’s crossing lines that I believe violate campaign finance rules,” McCarthy said in an interview Monday.

Foley dismissed the allegations as “just a bunch of politics.”

”This is all very positive and, for the last several years, there have been people who want to make it political and turn it into something negative,” she said.

The FPPC is reviewing McCarthy’s complaint to determine whether to initiate an investigation, agency spokesman Jay Wierenga said Monday.

The holiday soiree, now in its ninth year, is scheduled for Dec. 14 at the Holiday bar and lounge on West 19th Street. The event is a campaign fundraiser for Foley and includes a silent auction benefiting the Costa Mesa Firefighters Assn. charity fund.

It’s preceded by a coat and toy drive that Foley also organizes, with collection sites at various locations. Donations also will be accepted during the soiree.

McCarthy said he believes the soiree is “political fundraising under the deceptive guise of charity.”

He pointed to an event flier he received in an email that includes links to the donation page on Foley’s campaign website and states in two places, “Your donation is your RSVP” to the event.

“I guarantee you there are people that are donating to that campaign account thinking it’s a charitable cause, and it’s not,” McCarthy said.

Foley, though, said “no one who’s ever attended this event or donated was ever confused.”

Donations solicited on Foley’s website are labeled as going to her 2018 campaign for mayor. The flier also includes a disclosure that it was paid for by the Foley for Mayor 2018 campaign committee.

“Everyone who is donating money that goes directly to my campaign knows that they are supporting my campaign,” Foley said.

McCarthy also objected that city fire stations and Costa Mesa High School are included as drop-off locations for the toy and coat drive, saying he believes Foley is using public resources to aid her political fundraising.

He outlined his objections in an email Monday to officials of the city and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Foley brushed aside that claim, saying only coats and toys are collected at those locations.

Foley said she typically collects about 300 coats. Toys and coats will be donated to community organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast.

The toy and coat drive began Monday and runs through Dec. 14.

This isn’t the first time objections have been raised about the charity drive. In 2014, city officials responding to a complaint from Councilman Jim Righeimer told Foley — then a councilwoman-elect — that she couldn’t place a collection box in the Costa Mesa Police Department because doing so could run afoul of state law.

Foley had used the department’s station on Fair Drive as a drop-off point for years before that.

City spokesman Tony Dodero could not be reached for comment about McCarthy’s complaint.

A representative of the Newport-Mesa school district referred questions to the city.

[email protected]

Twitter @LukeMMoney