Complaint Alleges Campaign Finance Abuse

THOUSAND OAKS —  A special prosecutor hired to investigate improprieties in local campaign spending is looking into a complaint lodged against City Council candidates Ed Masry and Linda Parks, who are running together on a slow-growth platform.

Jere Robings, a local resident and anti-tax activist, filed his complaint Thursday, questioning the accuracy of the candidates’ campaign finance statements.

In a letter to the city clerk, Robings said he was particularly concerned about whether some expenditures by Masry, a millionaire attorney, benefited Parks without her properly accounting for them in her paperwork. Those include $15,500 for polling research and a political consultant who received $8,892 from Masry and $482 from Parks.

Parks said Robings is supporting the campaigns of two others in the race--Councilman Mike Markey and Planning Commissioner Jim Bruno--and said Robings has no evidence that she or Masry have violated the city’s strict campaign finance laws.

“He’s doing this for campaign purposes,” said Parks, an incumbent.

Robings could not be reached for comment Friday.

Masry, made famous by the Julia Roberts movie “Erin Brockovich,” said he wishes people would focus on the issues rather than worrying about “all this silliness.”

“Both Linda and I welcome any investigation,” Masry said. “We have absolutely nothing to hide. We have done everything by the book.”

The City Council last month authorized City Atty. Mark Sellers to hire a law firm to investigate and prosecute campaign finance violations. Though campaign finance rules were enacted in 1998 following a bitter and expensive recall effort, no enforcement mechanism had been in place until this year.

Mike Harris, an attorney at the city’s firm--Winston & Strawn in Los Angeles--confirmed the complaint was being investigated but said he could not comment on the probe.