Developer Hid Campaign Gifts, Agency Says

Griffin Homes, one of Southern California’s largest developers, has agreed to pay $26,500 for making political contributions through employees and failing to disclose that the company was the source of the money, the state Fair Political Practices Commission said Tuesday.

Moorpark Councilman Bernardo Perez and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich were among six candidates and a political committee that received a total of $3,280 in 22 laundered contributions between 1985 and 1988, according to a commission report.

With the exception of Antonovich, who accepted $300 last year from a man he later learned was an employee of the building giant, the recipients did not know that Griffin Homes supplied the money for the contributions, the report said.

Perez, who received five contributions of $99 each from Griffin employees during an unsuccessful 1987 City Council bid, said he learned of the company’s involvement only when commission investigators interviewed him earlier this year. Perez said he was shocked at the revelation.

“Maybe I’m naive,� Perez said Tuesday, “but I’m surprised that the Griffin development company was in this. I didn’t think they’d be . . . involved in something like this.�

The commission report notes that at the time of the disguised contributions Griffin Homes was seeking permits from the Moorpark City Council to build 494 homes. Griffin has built four residential developments in the city, three of them near Moorpark College off the Simi Valley Freeway.

An agreement between Griffin Homes and the commission’s executive director, which would settle the case without an administrative hearing, is scheduled to be approved by the commission at its meeting next Tuesday. Representatives of Griffin Homes and commission Executive Director Gregory W. Baugher signed the agreement earlier this month.

Commission spokeswoman Sandra Michioku declined to provide details of the investigation or to discuss any details not outlined in the report.

A lawyer for Griffin Homes, Lance H. Olson, said the employees who made the contributions did so with the understanding that they would be reimbursed by the company.

Olson maintained that the lack of disclosure was an oversight. The commission report says, however, that in each of 22 documented examples, Griffin Homes “intentionally concealed the fact that it was the source of the contributions.�

The company did not report campaign contributions of $100 or more to the state in reports it was required to file in 1986 and 1987, according to the commission. But the commission’s report said those omissions were not intentional and were documented elsewhere.

“While the amount of unreported political contributions was small, we recognize the importance of upholding the regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission,� a statement issued by Griffin Homes said. “Griffin Homes has been building homes in Southern California for more than 86 years and is committed to maintaining its good reputation and standing in the community.�

Most of the undisclosed contributions involved members of the Moreno Valley City Council. State Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) received $1,000 in 1987 from a man Olson identified as a former attorney for Griffin Homes.