By Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 8, 2026
State election regulators have issued a formal warning to former Coronado mayor and current San Diego City Council candidate Richard Bailey after he failed to properly disclose personal investments in multiple stocks over three years.
The decision from the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces the state Political Reform Act, came in the wake of a sworn complaint filed against Bailey.
“Your actions violated the Act by failing to timely disclose stocks on your 2020, 2021 and 2022 annual SEIs,” or statements of economic interest, the FPPC said in its March 16 decision letter to Bailey.
Regulators said Bailey was issued a warning rather than a monetary fine because he cooperated with state investigators and quickly amended the filings in question.
“The information in this matter will be retained and may be considered should an enforcement action become necessary based on newly discovered information or future conduct,” the letter added.
Bailey said the reports were filed in errors years ago, and he noted that he corrected them soon after learning of the omissions.
“At the time, I did not believe stock holdings needed to be included in the local disclosures since the local policy would not materially impact share price of multinational corporations like Google or Amazon,” he said.
“Once it was brought to my attention, based on my federal filings which did include those holdings, I promptly amended the local forms to ensure all disclosures were compliant,” he added.
California’s Form 700, the statements of economic disclosure that public officials are required to submit every year, are clear about which personal interests must be reported. Schedule A-1 is titled, “Investments: Stocks, Bonds and Other Interests.”
Bailey, who was a registered Republican for years before leaving the party in recent months, is running against six other candidates for the District 2 seat on the San Diego City Council. He was mayor of Coronado from 2016 to 2024.
No on Bailey
Fifth Column
I had to fill out statement of economic interest forms for virtually my entire pubic sector career. Sometimes I had to list everything, sometimes it was just to report “no reportable interests.” It is very clear that stocks and other investments need to be reported. I even had to disclose my wife’s clients, as I was entitled to my community property share of her income.
Not filling out the forms correctly is a big red flag for me. If he didn’t understand, that’s bad. If he understood and just didn’t disclose, that’s also bad.
Bailey: “I did not believe stock holdings needed to be included” on a form titled “Stocks, Bonds and Other Interests.”
Being able to complete a form should be a basic requirement for a local representative.
No on Bailey.
No on cheats.
He’s as trustworthy as Trump
Very similar behavior as Donald Trump. Entitled lifelong politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them.
I am thoroughly disappointed in these comments and particularly in the comparisons to Trump. He filed the forms correctly with the Feds which is how CA even learned about the error. Then, because he cooperated and immediately rectified the filing, the complaint was dismissed. None of you have made an error with a government filing? Did the omission harm anyone? Seriously this rag has it in for him. So much for unbiased, fair reporting.
Yea, we’re biased when a candidate has a big fat (R) surrounding their name & ideology.
I agree with you completely, Carol. Do we even know what holdings Todd has? Oh, but he’s democrat so let’s give him a pass. The bias of this platform is showing again.
Let’s keep it local and try to fix the mess the 100% democrat city hall has created. Or this city will be in bankruptcy come November. But again, that may not be as important as party for you diehards? Good luck!
OB Rag has never claimed to be unbiased. It very much as (and always has) touted itself as a progressive leaning blog.
Is this the same Carol Richter who, along with her husband, gave $1M to the Lincoln Club? It’s so weird how the only people chiming in to support Trump loving Richard Bailey are Republicans! It’s almost like they’re just trying to decieve everyone in D2 about who he really is! We don’t want a MAGA carpetbagger leading D2 and I can’t wait for him to lose.
Yes. We were new to the political financing system and received poor advice about the Lincoln Club. The funds went to Larry Turner’s campaign. I’ve been an independent for decades and did not vote for T. But I won’t be voting for Kamala or Newsom.
You must believe this guy who voted for trump twice is an Independent (like yourself?). I think he has only one skill… Misdirection through social media.
Spot on.
Not true. He was reported by a citizen of coronado who noticed his filing was incomplete. Thats the value of open access to the e-files.
Bailey’s ethics lapses show he’s unfit for council. If he truly believes he can “make a difference” in local governance finances, why settle for a district seat? Run for mayor—if he has the experience and vision he claims. Instead, this looks like a calculated stepping stone from Coronado, complete with a fresh “no party preference” label and recent move to Point Loma. San Diego deserves better than opportunistic half-measures and disclosure dodges.
So “politics over policy” is the preferred approach here. How has that been working for you?
So “expediency over honesty” is the preferred approach where you come from. How has *that* been working for you?
D2 knows a carpetbagging MAGA when it sees one. Richard is doomed.
What if Bailey had a total turnaround after going to a sweat lodge, taking schrooms and then denouncing Trump, ICE and MAGA?
Carol, the problems with our current situation are due to Todd Gloria’s corrupt practices and his devotion to his developer friends who give him money. Second, Jennifer Campbell is non-existent in representing our community and is just a rubber stamp for whatever Todd wants.
How about a Democrat who has been fighting and speaking out for our community for over 6 years? How about a Democrat who is not “beholden” to developers? How about a Democrat who supports the 30-foot height limit? That would be Mandy Havlik.
Mandy has been living in our District and representing our district for several years (not months like Bailey).
Mandy is the 1st Vice Chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board. She is involved with the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Advisory Group. She has led the fight against Midway Rising and the 30-foot height limit. She has brought e-bike training to our local schools. When COVID hit she worked with the Mayor’s office to turn one of our local schools into a food distribution hub. She is currently working on a proposition to increase the TOT taxes paid by hotel guests to help fund the city’s budget problems. And she in not beholden to either developers or the Lincoln Club. She regularly attends City Council meeting to speak and to represent our community. She will rein in ADUs and STVRs and prioritize affordable housing with parking. She supports responsible development with necessary infrastructure upgrades. Mandy is a Democrat who will seek changes to the current City Hall problems, not politics as usual.
I Am well aware of Mandy and her volunteer work and appreciative of her efforts. However she has no educational background or work experience to qualify her to be on the city council of the 8th largest city in the country. We’ve had too many unqualified people on the council for years. I can also promise you that Richard will not be beholden to any party, person, union or developer. None. I’m going to make this my last comment as this group is just too political and judgemental. Agree to disagree.
I agree with Carol. While I appreciate Mandy’s community work, what business experience does she have? We have an exploding deficit and are on the brink of bankruptcy and Mandy’s simple answer counter this financial peril is increase hotel tax?
What about cutting the city staffing bloat? What about pausing salary increases? What about dealing with the powerful MEA union?
I share Carol’s view that being the 8th largest city in our country, we must put party politics aside and fine out who is going to right the financial ship which is Richard’s strength.
For the record, Richard has been a small business owner specializing in watercraft rentals in Mission Beach. Richard also enjoys beach volleyball. So to label him a carpetbagger is not justified since he has a connections to the District.
But I too will cease writing anything further here since whatever we say that does not support the Democrat party is ostracized. Good luck and may the most qualified person win.
Go to your room.
So being the mayor for a city of 17,000 people, having a watercraft rental business and playing beach volleyball makes someone qualified to be on the City Council of the 8th largest city?
So here’s a very short list of successful people without a college degree:
Harry Truman
William McKinley
Frank Lloyd Wright
Steve Jobs
Bill Gates
Mark zuckerberg
Stephen Spielberg
So what educational background are you looking for to make someone worthy?