Sacramento councilman fined $200 by state for being late to disclose financial interests

A state agency has issued a penalty to Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee for the late filing of financial disclosure paperwork.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has fined Loloee $200 for the infraction, according to an agenda for an upcoming meeting posted Monday.

Loloee was about seven months late to file the paperwork, called a “Statement of Economic Interest Form 700,” to the city, an agency investigation found. Loloee, who was sworn into office in December 2020 to represent North Sacramento, was supposed to file the forms by Jan. 14, 2021, but did not file them until July 13, 2021, according to city documents.

“The FPPC has once again confirmed there are no residency issues,” Loloee said.

Timothy Smith, a resident of North Sacramento’s Woodlake neighborhood, which Loloee represents, submitted the complaint last year to the FPPC citing a June 2022 story in The Sacramento Bee. That story reported it appeared Loloee was not living in the Hagginwood house where he said he lived and instead could be living with his family far outside the district in his wife’s $1.4 million Granite Bay house.

In his complaint to the FPPC, Smith alleged Loloee was violating state law by excluding rental income from the Hagginwood house on the forms. The FPPC did not find proof that Loloee was in violation of that, but did find a violation for the late filing the 2021 form.

Loloee has asserted that he does not accept rent from employees living at his Hagginwood house with him. Karla Montoya, an employee who was staying in the house as of last summer, did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday asking whether she still lives there for free. Personal residences or vacation property does not have to be reported, only income generated by the property, such as rental or lease income or AirBnB income.

Rent from commercial buildings, if the building is in the city the person represents, is also required to be disclosed. Loloee under an LLC bought an apartment complex in August at 830 and 838 Lampasas Ave. and included the property in his April 1, 2023 Form 700. But he did not include any rental income from it. He checked a box to indicate he either receives no rental income, or that it’s a total of less than $10,000 annually. When a reporter visited Monday, it was unclear if the units were vacant. There were two vehicles in the parking lot, and there were items such as furniture and trash outside two units.

The form also did not include rental income from a Natomas office building on Duckhorn Drive that Loloee owns under an LLC. It’s unclear if any businesses lease office space there other than his grocery store chain. An organization called The Humanity Center listed the address on its website, but did not immediately respond an inquiry asking whether it pays rent.

A man at the Hagginwood house told The Bee in June 2022 that he was Loloee’s tenant, and several neighbors told The Bee Loloee does not live there. A city investigation, which did not include interviews with neighbors, found that Loloee does indeed live there with his employees. There have been multiple 911 calls to the house, including for guns, and for multiple vehicles parked in the front yard. There has been an open code violation case at the house since June 2022 for structures built without permits in the backyard.

Loloee is registered to vote at the house, and he cast a vote from there in the November election, according to voter registration documents obtained by The Bee.

The state requires elected officials across California to submit the forms disclosing their financial interests so the public can know their representatives “are making decisions in the best interest of the public and not enhancing their personal finances,” according to a state web page.

Separately, Loloee is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor, which alleges he threatened to deport his grocery store employees for cooperating with a federal investigation. That case is ongoing.

Loloee has filed papers to raise funds to run for re-election next year, but has not yet announced whether he is running. Two candidates have announced runs for the seat.

The FPPC may discuss Loloee’s late filing at its June 15 meeting.