FORMAL ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST TIM GASPAR ALLEGES MORE THAN $150,000 IN UNDISCLOSED CAMPAIGN SPENDING, MATCHING FUNDS VIOLATIONS

Complaint filed with the L.A. City Ethics Commission alleges at least 18 separate campaign finance violations tied to undisclosed sponsorships and personal spending on Tim Gaspar's City Council campaign.

LOS ANGELES (October 19, 2026) – A formal complaint was filed last week with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission alleging that Los Angeles City Council District 3 candidate Timothy K. Gaspar violated California's Political Reform Act and the Los Angeles Campaign Finance Ordinance by failing to report more than $150,000 in personal and business expenditures that directly benefited his campaign.

The complaint, filed by attorney Ryan Hughes, alleges that despite selling his insurance brokerage for a reported $30 million in 2021, Gaspar elected to participate in the city's Matching Funds Program – a program designed to help candidates run for office "without relying on large donors or excessive fundraising." To date, the complaint states, the city has paid Gaspar $357,550 in public matching funds, contingent on his sworn declaration that he would not exceed a $43,400 personal spending limit per election.

According to the complaint, Gaspar's campaign paid for a series of high-profile event sponsorships throughout the district – including a $50,000 sponsorship of the Valley Cultural Center's 2025 summer concert series, a $50,000 sponsorship of Valley Cultural Center's 2026 summer concert series, a $50,000 sponsorship of the Valley Cultural Center’s 2026 4th of July fireworks show, a $1,200 sponsorship of a United Chambers of Commerce luncheon, two $25,000 Valley Cultural Center sponsorships in 2025, and additional sponsorships tied to the Valley Economic Alliance and the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firefighters Fund – without those expenditures appearing on his campaign's required disclosures. The complaint alleges Gaspar used the promotional benefits of those sponsorships, including campaign-branded tents, logos, and speaking opportunities, to directly advance his candidacy.

Taken together, the complaint alleges Gaspar's personal campaign contributions actually total roughly $96,200 during the primary election and $102,500 during the general election – both well above the $43,400 per-election limit required to remain eligible for matching funds. The complaint identifies at least 18 individual violations across four categories: use of more than one campaign bank account, failure to report in-kind contributions, failure to file timely 24-hour contribution disclosures, and abuse of the Matching Funds program; it asks the Commission to open an immediate enforcement inquiry.

"Public office is a position of trust – and trust has to be earned through judgment, not promises," said Barri Worth Girvan. "If these allegations are accurate, Mr. Gaspar accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in public matching funds while allegedly funneling undisclosed, unreported spending into his own campaign – spending that may have broken the very rules he is legally required to follow. That isn't a technicality. That's exactly the kind of unreported and potentially unlawful conduct the Matching Funds Program was designed to prevent."

Girvan continued: "Voters in this district deserve transparency and a representative who follows the same rules everyone else has to follow. The people of CD3 deserve full accountability from anyone asking to represent them at City Hall – and I hold myself to that same standard."

A copy of the full complaint is available upon request.

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