As of September 1, 2011, ALL 1,875 retail establishments are prohibited from providing light-weight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. MORE

By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

September 28, 2011 -- The damage done in the wake of the Kinde Durkee scandal to Santa Monica City Councilmember Terry O'Day's campaign finances – along with those of a couple of other groups involved in the 2010 municipal election – came to light Friday when their account balances were made public in a court filing.

The amounts listed in a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by First California Bank – which tallies 398 of Durkee's clients including Senator Dianne Feinstein and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party – represent what's left after Durkee allegedly embezzled millions to pay her business and personal expenses.

“Like many highly esteemed California elected officials, my campaign account has been robbed.” O'Day told his supporters in a statement sent Monday.

“Our reserved 2010 campaign funds of $16,300 put us in a strong position to win re-election [in 2012],” he said. “Durkee stole all but $152.51 of it.”

O'Day likened Durkee's actions to Bernie Madoff's infamous scheme.

He said she allegedly shifted money between accounts to pay for her own expenses, while filing “bogus” statements to satisfy the requirements of state and local agencies, a claim that appears to be backed up by a statement the Federal Bureau of Investigation said she made after her arrest on fraud charges earlier this month.

Durkee managed the finances for some of California's most prominent candidates, and the “scandal..sent shockwaves throughout the political community,” said O'Day.

He isn't the only one in Santa Monica wondering where the money went.

The campaign account for Measures Y and YY – a half-cent sales tax to support city and education spending that passed last fall – appears to have taken a hit.

The Committee to Protect our Community and Schools in Santa Monica, which ran the Y and YY campaign, seems to be listed in Friday's complaint as “Committee to Protect our Community” next to the amount $1,882,21.

“It's a good deal less than I thought,” Tom Larmore, the committee's co-chair, told The Lookout Tuesday. “The last report that we had from her office showed $11,300.

He said he'd tried to wrap up the account over the past few months, but Durkee's office didn't respond to his attempts to get in touch.

“Had I had any inkling I would have tried a lot harder. It's very disappointing to say the least,” Larmore said.

One more Santa Monica political group appears on the filing – Santa Monicans for Quality Government.

The group was listed as the source of mailers that were sent to voters in last fall's election, mailers many said were misleading. Durkee's firm, Durkee and Associates, handled the group's finances and was responsible for preparing and filing its statements with the city clerk.

A complaint was filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission naming Durkee's firm because it allegedly concealed the sources of SMQG's funding, only revealing them to be developers at the tail end of the election.

Friday's filing shows SMQG's bank balance to be $3,862.62.

A number of California's politicians have approached the Fair Political Practices Commission to see if the rules governing campaign gifts can be relaxed so that they can ask maxed-out donors for more money.

It remains to be seen what remedies will be available to O'Day, but for now, he's asking his supporters to pitch in.

“I will ask your support to help restore our financial strength for the 2012 campaign,” O'Day said. “Our team will fight for a just recovery of our stolen funds and direct any recovery into our next campaign.”