Blowing off the California Fair Political Practices Commission over a period of nearly five years has netted Adelanto Council Woman Sevevonna Evans a $76,500 fine, one of the largest such penalties ever assessed against a local governmental officeholder in the state.
Evans failure or inability to provide details with regard to how much money she took into her political war chest, who provided her with those funds and how she spent it was first noted in 2021. For three years beyond that, she again failed to make a public recordation of how she was able to fund her campaign activity.
Despite more than 30 contacts from Fair Political Practices officials, investigators and enforcement officers, Evans was unable to supply accounting even rudimentary accounting records for four of her campaigns between 2018 and 2024.
Based on available campaign accounting documentation relating to Evans since the case was filed, Evans has not made any campaign donation or expenditure filings in the time since 2024, a matter which is potentially subject to further FPPC action.
Evans successfully ran for the Adelanto City Council in 2018, and was guided in that effort by her campaign manager, Aaron Bratton.
In 2020, she ran, unsuccessfully, for First District San Bernardino County Supervisor. In 2022, she sought, along with three others, to challenge Adelanto Mayor Gabriel Reyes, but fell short, finishing second.
In 2024, she ran for the city council again, a race in which two incumbents, Daniel Ramos and Joy Jeannette also competed, along with another challenger Edward Reyes. Ramos and Evans emerged victorious in those runs.
Evans’ travail extends back to August 2021, when the Adelanto city clerk’s office, after being unable to get Evans to provide it with 460 documents, notified the FPPC’s enforcement division Evans’ campaign had not made filings with regard to her electioneering accounts.
According to a report pertaining to Evans considered by the fair Political Practices Commission’s November 20, 2025 meeting that was co-authored by Marissa Corona, the senior counsel to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, and Jay Gehres, the commission’s special investigator, “[The] Committee to Elect Stevevonna Evans 2018 Adelanto City Council [referred to hereafter as the “2018 Committee”] was Evans’ candidate-controlled committee during the November 6, 2018 General Election and Stevevonna Evans for Board of Supervisors 2020 [the “2020 Committee”] was Evan’s candidate-controlled committee during the March 3, 2020 Primary Election. Evans did not establish a candidate-controlled committee for the November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024 General Elections.”
According to Corona and Gehres, Evans was charged with 27 total counts of violating various sections of the California Government Code pertaining to accounting for both the money donated to her political war chests and expenditures made from those campaign coffers in support of her electioneering efforts.
The Political Reform Act has been in place since 1974. It set standardized rules on how politicians in California can finance their campaigns for office and requirements with regard to transparency in terms of requiring disclosure of who and what entities are bankrolling candidates campaigns. In addition to imposing mandatory spending limits on candidates for statewide offices and statewide ballot measure committees. The act established extensive campaign disclosure laws applicable to both statewide and local officeholders alike to ensure an informed electorate could vote against candidates with financial ties adverse to the public interest. Additionally, it banned anonymous contributions of $100 or more.
In conjunction with or as a part of the campaign disclosure requirements, a set of campaign finance reporting documents were created to facilitate the candidates’ reporting of their campaign financing activity and the availability of that campaign financing activity to the public. A basic campaign finance reporting document required by the Political Reform Act in the California Form 460. It is used to disclose all receipts and expenditures of a candidate, candidate campaign or a campaign committee. Candidates or office-holders are required to fill out two 460s for every non-election year while they remain politically active, one covering January 1 to June 30 and the other charting contributions and expendtures from July 1 to December 31, due 31 days after the end of each sixth month reporting period, that is by January 31 and July 31. In an election year in which the candidate or officeholder is vying for election or re-election, he or she must file 460 documents covering fundraising they are doing for a June Primary election on February 2, April 23 and May 21 as well as within 24 hours after receiving a contribution of $1,000 or more. In an election year in which a candidate for election or office-holder running for reelection in a November election must file 460 documents by July 31 showing any contributions coming in from January 1 to June 30; September 26 covering any contributions coming in between July 1 and September 21; by October 23 showing any contributions from September 22 to October 19; by November 1 relating to any donations coming in from October 20 to October 31; and by January 31 of the next year showing any contributions collected between October 30 and December 31. Any contributions of $1,000 or more coming in after July 1 must be reported within 24 hours. Fair Political Practices Commission for Item 6 on the commission’s November 20, 2025 meeting,
In addition to cataloging whatever contributions they receive from donors and how they spend the money and to whom or what companies or entities they pay out money, they must also report any loans or donations to their campaigns they personally make to their campaign, what loans they receive from other entities or other candidates or officeholders and what donations or loans are made from their campaign reserves to other candidates’ or officeholders’ campaigns.
Candidates, officholders and committees must file their reports with the city clerk or the California or the Secretary of State, depending on what office they are seeking election or reelection to.
According to Corona and Gehres, “The 2018 Committee and Evans failed to timely file ten semi-annual campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200 (4 counts), and six pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (6 counts). The 2020 Committee and Evans failed to timely file one 24-Hour Report, in violation of Government Code Section 84203 (1 count), ten semi-annual campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200 (4 counts), and six pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (6 counts). Additionally, the 2020 Committee failed to maintain detailed campaign records for contributions received and expenditures made, in violation of Government Code Section 84101 (2 counts). Finally, Evans, as a candidate in the November 8, 2022, and November 5, 2024 General Elections, failed to timely file four pre-election campaign statements, in violation of Government Code Section 84200.5 (4 counts).”
Evans and her campaign funds were, Corona and Gehres said, the “subject of an audit performed by the Audit Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission.”
Corona’s and Gehres’ report proposed that the Fair Political Practices Commission take action at its November 20, 2025 meeting to assess a total penalty of $76,500 against Evans.
That amount represents one of the heftiest fines ever made against a local officeholder in California. Other fines assessed on November 20 included one for $6,500 and others for $4,000; $3,748; $400; $400; $200; $800 and $800.
One reason for the steep fine being sough against Evans was the sheer number of counts – failures to report – those being 27. Typically, local politicians who are cited by the Fair Political Practices Commission for reporting violations were rung up for having missed or overshot a single reporting period or a few reporting periods during a single election cycle, typically by failing to file a 24-hour Form 460 relating to a single donor of $1,000 or more. In Evans’ case, she failed to make any disclosure of her fundraising activity and campaign expenditures across entire election cycles. In addition, Evans had given no response whatsoever to comission staff when Gehres and other had sought to engage with her in an effort to address the gaps in information in her file with the Adelanto city clerk’s office, the San Bernardino Ccounty Registrar of Voters and the California Secretary of State’s office, and in some fashion assemble the financial details relating to her various campaigns, no matter how imperfect or after the fact.
At the November 20, 2025 commission meeting, in response to a question by Chairman Chair Adam E. Silver, Corona said, Evans “did not reach out to us since this notice of default.”
The board verified that efforts by the commission’s staff to redress the issues pertaining to Evans’ failure to make proper disclosure of her campaign financing had been made and that no resolution of the matter has taken place. The commission declined to take action in November but rescheduled the matter for its February meeting, at which point Evans was to be apprised of the pending default judgment against her and afforded, the commission said, an opportunity to address it regard to the charges she face. In that interim, she was also given an opportunity to reach some resolution short of the full and finalized imposition of the full $76,500 penalty.
The commission again postponed action against Evans in February but took up the matter for the final time at its March 19 meeting, at which Chief Fair Political Practices Commission Enforcement Officer Kendall Bonebrake said Evans in the aftermath of the initial filing against her had engaged with commission investigators but had discontinued communicating with them, spurning offers to come to some semblance of a production of campaign donation and expenditures records, which had resulted in the commission having no choice but to impose the fine.
According to a reliable report, when Evans was initially contacted, she maintained that her campaign treasurer had sole access to the records the FPPC was seeking. Further efforts to have the records produced were unfruitful however, and Evans claimed the campaign treasurer, with whom she no longer had contact was not forthcoming with them. Evans then broke off communication with the FPPC.
According to the Fair Political Practices Commission, whatever the reason for the records not being available, an office-holder yet has a need to make disclosure of campaign financing pertaining to political activity consistent with the Political Reform Act. Evans failure to provide the records requested over a six year period despite 33 separate contacts by commission employees constituted an egregious degree of negligence which appeared to be deliberate.
The FPPC did not accuse Evans of purposefully conceal or misleading the city clerk or state agency but concluded that her participation in four elections since 2018 should have made her familiar with the filing process and disclosure requirements. The numerous failures to respond to notices of filing delinquency from FPPC investigators and its enforcement division “reflects a disregard for her disclosure obligations,” according to the judgment entered against her.
Evans committees are yet extant, have not been terminated and continue to be obliged to provide accounting of the money in their electioneering fund accounts.
According to the Adelanto city clerk’s page on the City of Adelanto’s website, Evans has made no filings for her 2024 city council run, extending to all 6 reporting deadlines that grew out of that electoral effort, assuming it was initiated after June 30, 2024 or seven or eight reporting deadlines if she had initiated her resolve to run after January 1, 2024 and June 30 2034 or prior to January 1, 2024, respectively. It does not appear that this most recent campaign finance disclosure failure on her part has been provided to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Evans did not respond to the Sentinel’s effort to obtain comment from her with regard to the FPPC’s action.
There appears to be, if not an epidemic of political campaign reporting violations on the part of Adelanto politicians, at least a pattern. Adelanto Councilman Daniel Ramos was fined $37,500 by the FPPC in 2024, which is a substantial penalty comparatively among California’s local elected officials.
-Mark Gutglueck