Commission cites Keuroghelian with warning

Former 43rd Assembly District candidate Chahe Keuroghelian violated campaign finance disclosure rules but will not be fined, according to a ruling issued Tuesday by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The commission made public an Oct. 1 letter finding Keuroghelian's campaign failed to report information about eight donors, including their addresses or occupations. The donors each gave between $100 and $500, and the total amount of contributions improperly documented was $1,550.

The agency on Tuesday issued a warning letter that said Keuroghelian must amend his campaign statements, but did not impose any fines.

"Since the total amount of these contributions represent a relatively small amount of the overall contributions you received this period, we are closing the file on this matter," Gary Winuk, chief of the commission's enforcement division, wrote.

Keuroghelian said he is amending his campaign statements to comply with the law and that the mistakes were inadvertent. He raised roughly $16,000 in his campaign, and said it was sometimes difficult with cash donations or volunteer staffers to obtain the required information.

"I do appreciate the fact that the FPPC concluded the investigation with a warning," Keuroghelian said. "The omissions were not intentional."

Keuroghelian, a Democrat, had finished fourth in an April primary for the Assembly seat for the June special election. He dropped out of the race before the election, citing the need for party unity.

His departure left only Democrat Mike Gatto and Republican Sunder Ramani in the race. Gatto won the June special election to complete the term of former Assemblyman Paul Krekorian. Ramani and Gatto are squaring off again in the Nov. 2 election for a full two-year term in the Legislature.

FOR THE RECORD: This corrects an earlier sub-headline to say that the contributions were improperly disclosed.