Long Beach says it will fine 3 candidates for campaign finance violations • Long Beach Post News

An announcement from the city said that Dan Miles, Gerrie Schipske and Nicholas Liddi, who are running for auditor, attorney and prosecutor, respectively, self-reported lending too much money to their own campaigns when filing their contribution reports with the City Clerk last week.

The limit for loans in citywide offices is $15,000, but campaign finance disclosures showed that Miles loaned $20,000 to his campaign, Liddi loaned $34,100 and Schipske loaned $50,000. They could be forced to pay fines as high as three times the amount of the unlawful loan, according to the city attorney’s office.

Miles and Liddi are seeking to replace longtime incumbents, and Schipske is running against a candidate endorsed by the incumbent, in the June 7 primary.

To avoid potential conflicts of interest when enforcing campaign rules like this, the city has contracted with an outside law firm, Best, Best & Krieger, to monitor elections while a current member of the city attorney’s office, Dawn McIntosh, is running for city attorney.

City Attorney Charlie Parkin said Friday that it’s his understanding that the firm will pursue the monetary penalties against the candidates. Miles could have to pay as much as $15,000; Liddi’s penalty could be as high as $57,300, and Schipske’s could be $105,000.

“If someone gives themselves that type of significant advantage, that hurts the whole process and goes against what voters wanted,” said Parkin, who is not seeking reelection but has…