FPPC eyes $104,500 settlement with Westly campaign

Former state controller and candidate for governor Steve Westly and his campaign treasurer are expected to pay $104,500 to settle a dispute with the state's political watchdog, which said the campaign failed to report some payments to subvendors.

The staff of the Fair Political Practices Commission, Westly and Westly's campaign treasurer, Kinde Durkee, reached agreement on the proposed settlement which will go before the commission on Dec. 10 for final approval, an FPPC spokesman said.

According to FPPC documents, the case arose from an FPPC audit of the Westly for Governor campaign from January 2005 through the end of June 2006. Westly, a Democrat, was defeated in the Democratic primary by then-Treasurer Phil Angelides, who lost in November 2006 to Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Westly, a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur, spent some $45 million on his unsuccessful effort, the FPPC said.

The FPPC listed 32 alleged violations, most of them dealing with the campaign's payments to subvendors in connection with television and radio advertising.

The FPPC noted that the campaign repeatedly sought information from the subvendors to meet the reporting requirements, but that the information was not provided in a timely way.