Watchdog agency proposes penalizing Stanislaus County for former sheriff’s recruitment promos
A state watchdog agency has proposed that Stanislaus County pay a fine for featuring former sheriff Adam Christianson in recruitment advertising in magazines distributed to county residents.
The advertisements in 2016 and 2017, designed to recruit people to work for the Sheriff’s Department, displayed the image of the former sheriff in violation of the Political Reform Act, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
The county paid for the magazine advertisements that included Christianson’s picture, his name and title and invited potential recruits to help keep the peace in Stanislaus County.
California’s Political Reform Act prohibits spending public funds on mass mailings that feature an elected official, says a stipulation and order posted by the FPPC this week. A publicly funded mailing that prominently features an elected official violates a political reform law that targets practices giving an unfair advantage to incumbents.
The law doesn’t require the watchdog agency to prove a publicly funded mailer is for re-election purposes. An advertisement inviting people to apply for sheriff’s deputy positions can also serve to promote an incumbent to voters at the public’s expense.
The FPPC proposes that Stanislaus County pay a $9,000 penalty for the advertisements in three magazines that were sent to nearly 100,000 residents.
The proposed order was on the FPPC’s meeting agenda for routine approval Thursday but was removed without explanation. The order is expected to be approved next month.
“They are still putting a few things in place before it goes to the (commission) for approval,” County Counsel Thomas Boze said in explaining why the item was pulled.
Boze said the county is not contesting the order. The violation was an inadvertent mistake by staff, he said. The county is not happy with the penalty amount because it’s one of the largest for a mass mailing violation on record, the attorney said.
“We admit we did it. It lets other jurisdictions know this is out there,” Boze said. “It is the law and the (FPPC) is going to enforce this. Cities and counties need to pay attention. Don’t violate this provision.”
In investigating a 2017 complaint, the FPPC found that the county over a two-year period purchased space for the recruitment advertisements in ModestoView, Contentment Health and the Gallo Center for the Arts magazine.
The three publications containing the ads reached a total of 98,000 people each time they were distributed, the FPPC order says. The county spent $19,000 purchasing the space in the three magazines, but the watchdog agency never learned the cost of producing the advertisements.
The FPPC proposes a penalty of $3,000 for each of the three counts. That is less than the maximum penalty under the law, which is $5,000 per count or a $15,000 total for three counts.
Boze said the penalties will be higher if the county repeats the violations. County government will need to be careful about displaying any images of elected officials in the large amount of correspondence, reports and documents that is regularly sent out, he said.
Part of California’s Political Reform Act aims to reinforce public trust in elections and make sure the public isn’t funding efforts to keep incumbents in office.
The FPPC order takes into consideration that Christianson did not run for re-election when his term expired in 2018. According to the proposed decision, the county did not ask FPPC staff or any other government agency for advice before placing the ads.
The large amount of recruitment advertising counted against Stanislaus County in setting the penalty. Christianson’s image appeared in 24 different magazine issues and reached a sizable audience.
The Modesto Bee was not successful in reaching Christianson for comment.
During the period four or more years ago, Boze said, the sheriff’s office was heavily recruiting to increase patrol and jail staffing after the budget cuts that followed the Great Recession.
The county’s top attorney said his staff could not find many documents during the FPPC probe on how the advertisements were created and the production costs. It appears the Sheriff’s Department handled the recruitment advertising, Boze said.
Supervisor Terry Withrow said Thursday the advertising was not intended to promote re-election of the sheriff to another term.
“I think the county thought it had not done anything wrong,” Withrow said. “It was not an intentional act. We are always trying to make sure we are staying within the laws and don’t blur those lines between politics and spending the public’s money.”
Christianson, then 54, announced in August 2017 he would retire when his term expired at the end of 2018, ending a 12-year run as sheriff. That announcement came four months after the magazine promos were cut off.
The proposed FPPC order says the county has asked for training materials on mass mailings to share with different departments and avoid additional violations.
One city was assessed a smaller penalty
Stanislaus County is not the first local government agency that the FPPC has penalized for a mass mailing featuring an elected official.
The city of Upland in Southern California boasted about its achievements in a February 2018 letter that was mailed with water bills to 14,000 customers. The letter prepared in coordination between the mayor and city officials, displayed a picture of the mayor. The fine was $2,000.
Boze said a $9,000 penalty isn’t a huge amount for a county with a $1.46 billion annual budget. But the fines could increase substantially with repeat violations.
“It is really hard to monitor everything that goes out,” Boze said. Beside the county supervisors, some county department heads are elected officials such as the assessor and clerk recorder.
“If any elected official has a name and photo prominently displayed on a hard-copy mailing, they will need to consult with the County Counsel,” Boze said.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 7:18 AM.
