A Phoenix councilman who filed his marketing campaign finance report late and took an excessive amount of cash from a gaggle he wasn’t presupposed to faces no penalties after reimbursing for the contributions.
Carlos Garcia, who represents south Phoenix and elements of downtown, ran afoul of marketing campaign finance regulation by accepting almost $28,000 in contributions in 2021 from the union representing meals employees in Phoenix, UFCW Native 99. The donation violated state guidelines that say council members can settle for not more than $6,550 from a single political motion committee and the contribution needs to be from a union’s PAC, not the union immediately.
Gilbert City Clerk Chaveli Herrera investigated the grievance in opposition to Garcia after Phoenix Metropolis Clerk Denise Archibald referred it to her, noting a possible battle of curiosity.
A letter to Garcia’s attorneys in November stated the grievance was being closed after Garcia corrected the violations. Garcia reimbursed the UFCW union $9,955 and the union’s PAC $10,000. The Arizona Republic obtained the letter in December after looking for an replace on the grievance from the Gilbert City Clerk’s Workplace.
“The grievance is being closed with no additional motion being taken or penalties imposed,” the letter says.
Garcia confronted reelection in November and is headed to a runoff in March rafter failing to safe greater than 50% of the votes in opposition to his three challengers. He’ll face Kesha Hodge Washington, who’s endorsed by the mayor.