Remember when Fullerton Assemblyman Chris Norby moved into a motel in 2007 after his then-wife kicked him out?
Well, the California Fair Political Practices Commission is now saying the Republican lawmaker improperly paid $340 tab with campaign funds, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He faces a fine of up to $5,000 if the FPPC determines the campaign funds were wrongly used.
Norby was a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors when the motel incident occurred and, according to the Times, “he admits leaving home for a residential motel on Orangethorpe Avenue after a quarrel with his (former) wife.”
Norby said he used his time away from home to study the use of motels as shelters for the homeless.
“I was doing a homeless study,” the Times said Norby told its reporter. “We have a lot of homeless people in motels. I think I learned a lot from it. I will stand by it.”
Norby’s domestic relations made the news again last year when Fullerton police investigated him after he and his current wife, Martha, had an argument in their home that drew concern from outsiders who notified the police.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office rejected that case for “lack of sufficient evidence.”