Otting likely to cancel raffle

The Newport Beach resident who donated a weeklong stay at her Honolulu condo to District 7 City Council candidate Dolores Otting for a fundraising raffle says she reported the accurate fair market value of a stay at the studio unit near Waikiki Beach.

Otting has taken down the details of the raffle from her website and her campaign treasurer said she will probably cancel the fundraiser after two complaints questioned the source and value of donated vacations.

Otting will probably give refunds to donors who purchased raffle tickets for a chance to win one of three vacation getaways to Cancun, Mexico, San Diego or Honolulu, said Otting’s campaign treasurer, Raymond Zartler.

Donors are responsible for reporting the accurate fair market value of campaign contributions, not the candidate, Zartler said.

“The people that donate are the ones that make up the value of the donation,” Zartler said. “Dolores and I have nothing to do with that. We don’t appraise the gift.”

Otting declined to comment Thursday, directing questions to Zartler.

Newport Beach City Councilman Keith Curry, whom Otting is challenging for the District 7 council seat, claims that a weeklong stay at a Waikiki condo violates local campaign contribution limits.

The councilman filed a complaint with the Newport Beach city attorney last week, alleging the Hawaiian beach getaway, donated for a campaign fundraising raffle, is worth more than Otting reported on campaign disclosure statements.

The complaint also alleges that while the condo stay is reported on Otting’s campaign statements as two separate donations from two different donors of $495 from Linda and Lesna Orozco, the unit is owned by one person, Linda Orozco.

Newport limits the amount a candidate may accept from one donor to $500.

Newport resident Linda Orozco, who owns the condo, said in an e-mail that she reported the fair market value of a weeklong stay at the unit to Otting’s campaign at $495. Orozco came up with that figure by searching the Internet for what a stay at a similar condo would cost, she said, an acceptable way to estimate the worth of a gift, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Orozco’s mother added her name to the contribution as a simple show of support, Linda Orozco said, because of her concern about rehabilitation homes in her daughter’s neighborhood.

“My mom is horrified, as I am, by the dangerous neighborhood in which I live in Newport,” Orozco said. “My mom chose to add her name on the contribution in support for a change to these unsafe neighborhood conditions.”

Curry noted Thursday that Otting signed her campaign disclosure statement certifying it as true an accurate.

“It’s very clear [Linda Orozco’s] mother did not donate to her campaign as Mrs. Otting declared under penalty of perjury,” he said.

A Newport Beach resident filed a complaint earlier this month with the California Fair Political Practices Commission alleging Otting neglected to report the source or fair market value of the trips to San Diego or Cancun on campaign funding disclosure statements filed with the city.

Otting told the Daily Pilot earlier this month that the omission was a simple oversight and that she would likely file an amended campaign disclosure statement to reflect the donated trips.

Zartler said Thursday that Otting wouldn’t have to file an amended statement if she cancels the raffle and refunds the tickets, because the trips won’t be used.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].