Supervisor Hopkins pays FPPC fine for conflict of interest

Hopkins was fined by the Fair Political Practices Commission after approving funds for a nonprofit that employed her husband

Hopkins calls the violation “an honest mistake.” (Screenshot from Dec. 17, 2019, Board of Supervisors meeting)

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has found 5th district Supervisor Lynda Hopkins to have acted in violation of state law due to an apparent conflict of interest which stems from her vote at a Dec. 17, 2019, Board of Supervisors meeting. 

Hopkins, along with four other supervisors, voted to approve Tourism Impact Fund Awards for 2019-2020, which included grants to eight different nonprofits at that 2019 meeting. LandPaths, at which Hopkins’ husband, Emmett Hopkins, was employed in the role of Community Stewardship Manager, was awarded $20,000. 

Although Hopkins had previously disclosed LandPaths, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, as a source of income/financial interest in her Statement of Economic Interest from both 2018 and 2019, she did not recuse herself from voting on the item.

When asked by the Sebastopol Times for a comment on the matter, Hopkins sent a lengthy text that stated that she would have recused herself from the vote had she been aware of the fact that LandPaths was involved. She also said that she had brought the violation to the attention of the FPPC herself in February of 2022.

“I brought this error to the attention of the FPPC two and a half years ago,” Hopkins said in her message. “On this particular instance, I had previously read a draft version of a consent calendar agenda item involving the Tourism Impact Fund, which was one of more than 40 items on the consent calendar that day.”

“The draft version I read hadn’t included a contract with LandPaths,” she added. “Unbeknownst to me, another supervisor subsequently added the contract with LandPaths. I wasn't aware LandPaths had applied for this particular grant and neither was my husband. So I voted yes on the entire consent calendar, not realizing it included funding for LandPaths.”

The decision from the FPPC states that Hopkins violated the “Political Reform Act, which prohibits public officials from making, participating in making, or attempting to influence governmental decisions in which the official knows or has reason to know they have a financial interest….by making a governmental decision regarding LandPaths.”

The FPPC issued Hopkins a $3,000 fine, which she has since paid. A FPPC hearing will be held on Nov. 21 to finalize the settlement.

“The Commission will vote on whether to approve the stipulation at the Commission meeting on November 21st,” said Lindsey Nakano, Senior Legislative Counsel at the FPPC. “A penalty that is part of a stipulated agreement has already been paid by the respondent.”

The FPPC stated in the decision that “there was no evidence to support an intent to conceal, deceive or mislead the public as to Hopkins’ financial interests.”