February 25, 2022
By Brian Hews
La Mirada City Councilman Andrew Sarega was slammed last week with nearly $1,700 in fines by the Fair Political Practices Commission for violations of the Political Reform Act.
The fine resulted from an investigation by Hews Media Group-Community News and the Lamplighter.
It seems like violating the Act runs in the family; Sarega’s father, Ion, was warned by the FPPC last year for potential violations.
Sarega was first cited for the committee Residents for a Better La Mirada, run by his friend Stelian Onufrie.
Campaign Committee for La Mirada Councilman Sarega Concealed Donations, Fined by FPPC
HMG-CN found two donations were made to RBLM and not correctly reported; the money was then spent on then-candidate Tony Aiello and Sarega’s campaign.
The FPPC investigated whether the independent expenditure committee colluded with Sarega and Aiello in sending out campaign materials.
In the end, Onufrie was fined for not correctly reporting the donations to RBLM.
In the recent decision, Sarega admitted to committing six violations of FPPC laws during his bid for a second term in 2017.
Sarega’s campaign committee ‘Sarega for Council 2017’ was hit with four violations for failing to file a report within 24 hours, deliberately hiding four $1,000 donations from La Mirada voters in the final weeks of the campaign.
In addition, Sarega was hit with two other violations, once again deliberately hiding campaign donations from residents, by failing to file two pre-election statements.
Sarega has not announced if he will run for City Council again; residents have told HMG-CN at council meetings that they are not fond of Sarega, “he is constantly absent from City Council meetings,” said one resident.