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The state’s political watchdog is investigating a complaint into donations solicited by county supervisor Andrew Do for statues at Mile Square Park.
The complaint was filed on May 13 with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) by Garden Grove Councilman Phat Bui, who is running against Do in the race for the First District supervisorial seat. It is the third complaint Bui has filed against Do this election season.
The complaint focuses on $60,490 in donations made at Do’s request to fund statues of Ronald Reagan and a 13th century Vietnamese general in Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park.
State law allows officials to accept unlimited donations, called behested payments, for work outside of their government duties toward nonprofit or charitable groups. Any donation above $5,000 must be disclosed.
Bui argues that while Do reported the donations as behested payments, they should instead be reported as campaign contributions, pointing to the lack of accounting of how the money for the statues was spent and the payment of the funds to Do’s former chief of staff, Nick Tam Lecong.
Jay Wierenga, a spokesman for the Fair Political Practices Commission, confirmed Thursday that the agency will open an investigation into the complaint, although that does not mean the agency has identified any wrongdoing.
Bui’s campaign — which includes consultants like Stu Mollrich of the firm Forde and Mollrich — has used the complaints as fodder for attack ads characterizing Do as a “state ethics investigators target” and himself as a “proven corruption fighter.”
Do could not be immediately reached for comment. However, in the past he has called Bui’s complaints an election season political stunt.
Contact Thy Vo at tvo@voiceofoc.org or follow her on Twitter @thyanhvo.