Complaint alleges income reporting violation by Ocean View school board hopeful
The enforcement division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission says it will investigate whether a candidate for the Ocean View School District board in the Nov. 8 election violated the Political Reform Act by not disclosing her employment income on a form she submitted in August.
In a complaint filed this month, Huntington Beach resident Mark Bixby claimed that candidate Kathryn Gonzalez, an asset manager for the Federal National Mortgage Assn., or Fannie Mae, should have provided her employment income on her Form 700 since her employer “conducts real property transactions for foreclosed property nationwide, including within OVSD boundaries.”
According to a letter Bixby received last week from the FPPC in response to his complaint, the enforcement division has “not made any determination about the validity” of his allegation. The division plans to notify him of the final disposition of the case.
Gonzalez could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The Political Reform Act states that candidates for elected office must disclose any business positions if the business has an “interest in real property in the jurisdiction” or “does business or plans to do business in the jurisdiction.”
In the category of Form 700 where filers can provide information about investments, income, loans and business positions, Gonzalez stated “No reportable interests on any schedule.”
Pete Bakel, senior director of external communications for Fannie Mae, said the Washington, D.C.-based company “purchases mortgages from lenders in communities across the country. Whether Fannie Mae has conducted business within OVSD boundaries would be determined by a particular property address.”
According to Gonzalez’s LinkedIn profile, her responsibilities with Fannie Mae include managing a portfolio of more than 500 assets, making marketing decisions and alleviating possible media attention about the sales of Fannie Mae-owned real estate.
Bixby said he took the matter to the FPPC because “I ran for City Council in 2014, and back then I was so busy I didn’t have time to deal with all the sloppy reporting by candidates. I vowed to myself in 2016 to go zero tolerance on every candidate in every race.”
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
