Mayor Mahan Pays $27K for Reporting Failures | San Jose News

0:00It's September 4th. I'm Cory with the story, and this is San Jose News today, your AI-powered local news. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is facing a hefty penalty, agreeing to pay $27,500 to state regulators. This comes after he failed to report over $2.3 million in donations that were made to nonprofits at his request. The reporting delays for the so-called Bejested Payments stretched from four months to nearly two years. The bulk of these unreported funds, almost $1.97 million, went to an advocacy group called Back to Basics, California. Interestingly, several of Mayor Mahan staff members held decision-making roles within that organization. Another significant payment, $400,000, was delayed in its reporting to a local arts group named Cinequest. According to investigators, the commission found 16 instances of negligence, but they determined there was no intentional wrongdoing or attempt to deceive the public. This distinction is key, as it means Mahan's fine is considerably less than the $80,000

1:04he could have faced. He's pointing the finger at a former aide for the oversight, stating he trusted them to handle the filings. The investigation was actually triggered when Mahan himself discovered the disclosures were missing and self-reported the issue. State law requires elected officials to report any donations of $5,000 or more made at their request within 30 days. While these payments were reported locally to the city of San Jose, they were not submitted to the state as required. The former chief of staff, Jim Reed, who left Mahan's office to lead back to Basics, has taken full responsibility. He stated it was his fault the information wasn't disclosed to the state, calling it a painful lesson learned and apologizing for the mayor having to. Deal with his mistake.