SAN JOSE, Calif. (Diya TV) — California’s political ethics watchdog fined San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan $27,500 for failing to timely disclose about $2.37 million in charitable payments made at his request.
The Fair Political Practices Commission approved the settlement Thursday. The agency found that Mahan failed to file required Form 803 reports for approximately 38 payments of $5,000 or more between 2024 and 2026, resulting in 16 violations of California’s Political Reform Act.
California requires elected officials to report certain “behested payments” — money they solicit or help direct to another person or organization for charitable, legislative or governmental purposes. Officials generally must report payments totaling $5,000 or more from a single source within 30 days.
About $1.9 million of the payments went to Back to Basics California, a nonprofit organization connected to Mahan’s policy efforts, according to San José Spotlight. The case also included a $400,000 payment to Cinequest, the San Jose nonprofit that operates the annual film festival.
The payments to Back to Basics came from roughly three dozen donors. The largest was a $1 million payment from cryptocurrency executive Chris Larsen. Several members of Mahan’s City Hall staff held decision-making positions with Back to Basics while some of the payments occurred, according to the FPPC findings cited by San José Spotlight.
The FPPC said investigators found no evidence that Mahan intentionally concealed the payments. The commission said staff misunderstood the state filing requirements and noted that Mahan voluntarily filed the overdue reports after his office identified the omissions. He also cooperated with the investigation.
Some payments had already appeared in disclosures filed under San Jose’s local reporting rules, but Mahan’s office failed to submit the required state forms, according to the FPPC findings.
The commission’s Sept. 17 vote approved the $27,500 settlement and resolved the FPPC enforcement case.
