Councilman David Alvarez was hit with a $2,000 fine this week by the city’s Ethics Commission for mayoral campaign mailers that did not properly disclose the funding source.
The city’s campaign rules include guidelines intended to make it clear who paid for publicity items.
According to an agreement between Alvarez and the commission, the “paid for by” disclosure on a mailer distributed to 47,000 homes on Oct. 21 did not contrast sufficiently with the background to be legible.
The words cannot be seen on an example of the mailer published on the commission’s website.
The agreement also states that on Nov. 13, the campaign produced a postcard in which the required statement was in 8-point type, instead of a 12- point print required by the commission.
The company that produced the documents, Mission Control Inc., has agreed to pay part of the fine, according to the agreement.
According to the commission, Alvarez relied on Mission Control to produce the campaign literature, suspended its distribution when the mistake was discovered and was cooperative.
“As the stipulation documents state, we worked productively with the Ethics Commission and the issue is resolved,” said Alvarez campaign spokesman Stephen Heverly.
He said Mission Control will pay $1,500 of the fine and Alvarez will pay $500. Alvarez was defeated by fellow Councilman Kevin Faulconer by a 54.4 to 45.6 percent margin in Tuesday’s mayoral runoff election.
— City News Service