Weeks ahead of criminal sentencing, former Chula Vista council member admits civil violation

Former Chula Vista Councilmember Andrea Cardenas has agreed to resolve a civil complaint that accused her of violating state reporting regulations, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The stipulation, which was posted online Wednesday ahead of the panel’s public meeting next week, came three weeks before Cardenas is due in San Diego Superior Court for sentencing on two felony charges she pleaded guilty to earlier this year.

She will pay a $100 fine to resolve the civil complaint.

The Fair Political Practices Commission reached the settlement with Cardenas and her attorney to resolve a complaint filed last year by Chula Vista business owner Laura Wilkinson Sinton.

Wilkinson Sinton, who previously sued Chula Vista in 2020 over permit applications for her cannabis business, Caligrown, lodged her complaint about Cardenas with state regulators in February 2023.

That complaint accuses Cardenas of failing to publicly disclose cannabis companies represented by Grassroots Resources, the now-suspended firm launched by her brother, Jesus Cardenas, nearly a decade ago.

On various occasions, Andrea Cardenas represented herself as a salaried employee of Grassroots Resources and as an independent contractor for the firm.

In an email to a prospective client, for example, she said that she was an independent contractor and that Grassroots Resources had no employees. But on state filings, she said she was on the c...