News

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has enforced a $4,000 conflict-of-interest fine against Dendra Dengler for her failure to disclose that she had a financial interest in some projects she voted on as president of the Manila Community Services District.

Travis Sanford acerbically critiques the situation for the Courthouse News Service:

"In exchange for a $4,000 fine for abusing conflict of interest rules, the president of the Manila Community Services District can enjoy a conservation park next to her house in Humboldt County. ... To pave the way for the district to buy land for use in its parks and conservation program, Dengler voted on numerous agenda items, including the final vote to purchase."

Dengler, in her defense, denied she was acting upon anything other than the community's behalf.

She has lots of company in the doghouse; at its Jan. 28 meeting the CFPPC made similar enforcement decisions against four other public officials for conflicts of interest voting, and against several dozen others for various violations. You can read all about those here.

And, last December, the T-S's Donna Tam wrote about the charges against Dengler.