A Paper Chase?

As San Jacinto struggles to deal with ongoing corruption scandals involving members of its city council, school board, chamber of commerce and the police department for the local college, another political drama—also involving the campaign finances of an elected official—has begun to play out in Perris.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has confirmed that Perris Union High School District trustee and vice president Carolyn Twyman is currently under investigation for failing to file campaign paperwork from her 2005 and 2009 campaigns on time.

According to Commission Executive Director Roman Porter, the agency—which regulates campaign spending and limits as well as financial conflicts of interest—became aware of the allegations regarding Carolyn Twyman about three months ago. “In mid-November, we sent a letter to Mrs. Twyman indicating that we were investigating,” Porter tells the Weekly. “We have an anonymous tip line where individuals can call and provide us information without giving their identities, and that is how we became aware of this.”

Porter did not say whether or not Twyman’s husband, Fred Twyman—who is also her campaign treasurer and a member (vice mayor) of the Menifee City Council—was also being scrutinized. 

“The Fair Political Practices Commission does not have criminal authority,” Porter says. “This is an open investigation, and that is all I can comment on at this time.”

But while considering that elements of San Jacinto’s corruption investigation—which has ensnared four out of five members of that City Council and a school board member—involve accusations of illegal acts involving campaign paperwork and monies, this new case involving officials from Perris and Menifee may bear further watching. Similarly in the San Jacinto case, investigators were also reticent to discuss details of the case, going so far as to seal search warrants and refusing to confirm information with the media.

Certain questions are prompted: Why would someone consider filing paperwork late so serious an act that it warranted making an anonymous tip to a state agency entrusted with keeping politicians honest and staving off corruption, via the Political Reform Act.

Any violations of this act, which the commission oversees, can be punishable by up to $5,000. California law requires that candidates running for office file proper documentation of their campaign expenditures and contributions once they have either raised or spent $1,000.

According to public records related to Carolyn Twyman’s 2009 school board campaign dated from Oct 18 to Nov. 2, the Perris Secondary Educators Association donated $2,500 (for the period between Oct. 18 to Nov. 2), which surpasses the $1,000 filing requirement. However after $1,670 in expenditures, the ending balance in Twyman’s account was next listed as under $930. 

Twyman won the last school board election last November in a landslide against two other candidates. She also won the race in 2005, and has served a total of two terms on the board, which covers campuses in the communities of Sun City, Nuevo and Menifee, and overseas about 10,000 secondary and middle school students in the greater Perris Valley. 

Fred Twyman took the blame for the paperwork that was filed late for his wife’s campaign, claiming that it was an honest mistake, according to one published account. Twyman did not respond to the Weekly’s multiple attempts to contact her and did not respond to several interview requests.

To be fair, this Perris case is not criminal and can very well be taken at face value. But what San Jacinto is currently experiening is a sobering reminder of how alleged malfeasance involving campaign dollars and documents may unravel and lead to far-reaching political and criminal shockwaves.

In that case, San Jacinto council members John Mansperger, James Potts, Jim Ayres and Dale Stubblefield plus several of their relatives (including Ayres’ wife) are accused of money-laundering, tax fraud, perjury and filing false government documents related to illegal campaign contributions and reimbursements. All have pleaded not guilty. In another corruption case, former Mt. San Jacinto College Police Department Chief Kevin Segawa faces felony charges, including bribery, perjury and misappropriation of public funds, partly connected to an alleged scheme to divert business to a local towing company.