Dominic Caserta seems to have problems following the law when it comes to political fundraising. He’s raising tens of thousands of dollars from the 49ers and developers — groups who have an interest in developing our soccer park and putting greater density in our neighborhoods, leaving Santa Clarans with fewer recreational opportunities and more congestion.
At the Santa Clara Candidates Forum on October 9, 2014, Caserta responded to a question from our city ethics advisor about why he raised almost twice as much as the legal fundraising expenditure limit for city council candidates.
Caserta said that he was instructed by our city clerk that he could not return contributions after 14 days or it would count against his expenditure limit. Further, he says he raised money in excess of the voluntary contribution limit because he did not understand the “minutiae of state law.”
According to California’s Fair Political Practice Commission, contributions may indeed be returned. This is something Caserta should know since he ran for the state Assembly in 2010 and previously ran for council in 2002, when he also raised substantially more money than he could legally spend.
