On Oct. 18, Chula Vista resident Russ Hall submitted a complaint the Chula Vista city clerk, alleging that mayoral candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar has multiple campaign contributions in violation of the Chula Vista Municipal Code. Hall alleges between July 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021, the Campa-Najjar Assembly Exploratory Committee made contributions to Campa-Najjar for Mayor 2022, violating CVMC that prohibits contributions from political committees to candidate controlled committees. Contributions in excess of $360 by accepting a contribution of $7,430.27, which Hall states appears to be a cumulative amount of contribution transferred from the Campa-Najjar Assembly Exploratory Committee. And excepting contributions prior to 11 months before the election.
City Clerk Kerry Bigelow said that the complaint was forwarded to outside counsel on Oct. 18.
“The enforcement authority has 30 calendar days [Nov. 17] from its receipt of the complaint to determine if probable cause exists,” she said.
Campa-Najjar said this complaint is the same as a similar complaint earlier this year.
“It is the same thing, issued again, and the FPPC ruled on it,” he said.
On May 18, The Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission, received a sworn compliant against Najjar alleging he violated the Political Reform Act’s campaign disclosure provisions. The complaint was filed by Fred Montez, alleging that Najjar transferred over $7,300 from his Assembly 2022 committee to his Campa-Najjar for Mayor 2022 campaign.
On June 7, the FPPC sent a letter to Montez which said the “Enforcement Division would not pursue an enforcement action in this matter.”
This is a string of back and forth allegations surrounding the mayoral race. On Sept. 26, Najjar’s opponent, Council member John McCann’s campaign sent out a first in a series of press releases and press conferences after hiring a private attorney who followed Najjar for 32 days, alleging that Najjar does not live in Chula Vista.
On Oct. 3, Jose F. Cerda filed a complaint against McCann to the Chula Vista City Clerk, requesting that the Fair Political Practices Commission investigate the violations stating that McCann and his committee violated the City’s campaign finance ordinance by accepting “an excessive and prohibited in-kind contribution from SIU, and violated the Political Reform Act by failing to report that contribution. On Oct. 18, a letter to Cerda from the FPPC stated after review of the complaint, the Enforcement Division would not pursue an enforcement action in this matter as McCann had amended the cost to the private investigator to $2,414.50 before the city received the complaint.
This story has been updated to include Najjar’s response to the complaint filed by Hall.
