The California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating allegations that Beaumont Mayor Brian De Forge violated conflict-of-interest rules by not reporting income he made working for the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District.
Roman Porter from the commission confirmed a probe has been opened and said in an email that it has not yet been determined if a violation of the Political Reform Act took place.
The allegations were made by Judy Bingham for Beaumont Citizens for Responsible Growth, a group of citizens frequently at odds with Beaumont City Hall.
Her complaint states, “From October 2000 to November 2007 Brian De Forge, who has served on the Beaumont City Council since July of 1999, was paid tens of thousands of dollars by the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District for work he performed through his company, Brian E. De Forge Construction. He failed to report any of this income on his Statement of Economic Interests forms (Form 700).”
De Forge said Wednesday that he has been filing these forms the same way for a dozen years and he thought he was doing everything by the book. He said if he was supposed to report income he made from the water district, he didn’t know, and if he made a mistake he will fix it.
“I’m not trying to hide anything,” he said.
Reported by Erin Waldner at Press Enterprise