| Why does Mayor John Noguez Seemingly Fail to Report Business activity for M.A.N. Properties, a Business Entity he Controls that Gave Campaign Contributions to Gomez, Hernandez, Escareno and his own campaign? August 23, 2004 By WatchOurCity.com Huntington Park- M.A.N. Properties is a business interest controlled by Mayor John Noguez. His company made contributions to the campaign committees of Hernandez, Gomez, and Escareno's, including his own campaign committee. Public documents reviewed by WatchOurCity.com (Form 460) reveal that Ofelia Hernandez’s very first official campaign contribution of $1,000 was received on November 7, 2002. It was given by an entity listed as M.A.N. Properties, with an address that matched John Noguez’s Huntington Park address as listed on his campaign filing statements. The same Form 460 reveals that Ofelia Hernandez paid $650 shortly after the M.A.N. Property contribution to file her candidate statement with the city Clerk’s office in Huntington Park, a declaration of intent to run for elected office. Ofelia Hernandez was reportedly unemployed at the time. Four months later on March 3, 2003, a day before elections, Ofelia Hernandez’ Campaign Statement reports once more that M.A.N. Properties gave a “Nonmonetary” campaign contribution of $5,000 in “Literature”. Mario Gomez also had the distinction of receiving his very first official campaign contribution by M.A.N. Properties. Also for $1,000 on November 12, 2002, five days after Ofelia’s contribution by M.A.N. Gomez’s campaign statement also reported receiving a $5,000 “Nonmonetary” contribution on 3-3-03 given by M.A.N. Properties. The nature of the contribution was indicated as “Literature”. Councilman Ed Escareno's campaign committee was the recipient of a $1,600 "Monetary" contribution on November 13, 2002 by M.A.N. Properties. M.A.N. Properties once more appears as a donor. This time in earlier campaign filing statements prepared by John Noguez himself. On December 3, 2000, when Noguez was a candidate for City Treasurer of Huntington Park, he reports a campaign “Loan” of $680 from M.A.N. Properties. Also, no date was given for another “Loan” of $500 from M.A.N., as reported for the filing period covering July 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. Additionally, on 11-14-02, when Noguez was running for city council, he reports a “Monetary” campaign contribution of $800 from M.A.N Properties. Altogether, M.A.N. Properties donated a combined total of $15,580 from 2000 right on up to election day on March 4, 2003 to fellow councilmembers Ofelia Hernandez, Mario Gomez and Ed Escareno. Coincidentally, Hernandez, Gomez and Escareno have voted in favor of every official resolution that John Noguez has made thus far. Curiously, despite the combined $10,000 "Nonmonetary" contribution in the form of "Literature" by Noguez's M.A.N. Properties to Hernandez and Gomez a day before elections, mostly all literature sent out by their respective campaigns includes Noguez since he was part of the slate. Therefore, Noguez directly benefited by his contribution to them. It is questionable why M.A.N. Properties does not appear on any of John Noguez’s “Statement of Economic Interest – California Form 700” reports that he has filed yearly since 2000. His latest Form 700 report is dated 3-14-2004. All of the reports are signed by John Noguez "under penalty of perjury". According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, candidates have an opportunity to amend their Form 700 reports 7 years after the filing date. If M.A.N. Properties is a business interest controlled by Mayor John Noguez, then all indications are that this business entity would qualify as reportable under Form 700, Schedule C, "Income and Business Positions". He did not report it. Presumably, if M.A.N. Properties is not a registered business entity, then why is John Noguez making campaign contributions under a fictitious name? In either case, what is Mayor John Noguez trying to hide? If he can please explain. Loans Monetary Contributions Nonmonetary Contributions Total Contributions Mario Gomez $1,000 $5,000 $6,000 Ofelia Hernandez $1,000 $5,000 $6,000 Ed Escareno $1,600 $1,600 Juan "John" R. Noguez $ 1,180 $ 800 $1,980 Sub-total $1,180 $4,400 $10,000 $15,580 Nonmonetary Contributions is listed as "Literature" Total Combined Contributions Notes: 1. Source of Data: Campaign Contribution Records Form 460 and Form 700 filed with the City Clerk's Office in the City of Huntington Park, CA 90255. WatchOurCity.com |




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