Alvarez fails to file report on time

Claudia Alvarez, a Santa Ana City Council member and employee of the Orange County District Attorney’s office, apparently failed to correctly file her required Statement of Intent prior to soliciting and accepting funds for her Assembly Campaign. Jim Benson, a past candidate for the same 69th Assembly District that Alvarez is running for, broke the news in a press release distributed to the media today. Benson is a member of the Orange County Democrat Central Committee. Here is the press release in its entirety:

Contact: Chris Prevatt

714.290.4428

clprevatt@aol.com

Jim Benson

714.396.6199

jamessilverfox@aol.com

For Immediate Release

FPPC Complaint: Claudia Alvarez Failed to File Declaration of Candidacy before Raising Funds for Assembly Campaign

Today, Chris Prevatt and Jim Benson, candidates for Democratic Central Committee in the 69th Assembly District, filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) alleging that Santa Ana Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez failed to file the required Statement of Intent prior to soliciting and accepting funds for her Assembly Campaign.

In separate complaints filed with the FPPC, Prevatt and Benson claim that state records indicate that Alvarez filed her Statement of Intent on December 1, 2003, at least 10 months after she started raising funds for her Assembly campaign. FPPC regulations require any candidate for elected office to declare their intention to run on Form 501 prior to soliciting or accepting funds.

Prevatt states, “Ms. Alvarez is an elected official and knows what filings are required. These rules are designed to protect the integrity of our political process. Ms. Alvarez’s failure to follow simple and clear rules is a violation of public trust and demonstrates a lapse in ethical behavior on her part.”

Benson comments “Ms. Alvarez is a Deputy District Attorney in Orange County. It is extremely disturbing that someone with that background would fail to follow campaign reform laws. It sets an extremely bad example of ethical behavior and shows a lack of respect for the voters who passed the campaign reform proposition.”