{"id":409857,"date":"2026-07-23T20:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409857\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:26:14","slug":"judge-calls-out-oc-education-trustee-for-failing-to-report-millions-in-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409857\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Calls Out OC Education Trustee For Failing to Report Millions in Income"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mari Barke, one of Orange County\u2019s top elected voices advocating for charter schools, just got cited by a judge for failing to report millions in dollars of income over her tenure in office by not reporting the money on her annual disclosures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barke is on the hook for over $81,000 in penalties and possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars more in legal fees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her proposed ruling against Barke, OC Superior Court Judge Shaina Colover noted that Barke\u2019s mistake was not a small one, noting Barke \u201cnever even read,\u201d the instructions to file her Form 700s, the primary conflict of interest disclosure paperwork for elected officials in California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe omissions were not minor or technical in nature,\u201d Colover wrote. \u201cThe evidence established that the original Form 700 filings by Defendant Barke reported nominal income figures while substantial reportable financial interests and community property related assets of over a million dollars per year existed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barke, who directs a statewide program<\/a> dedicated to \u201clocal elected and appointed officials who stand for financial sustainability, government transparency and results-driven governance,\u201d said she was \u201cnaturally very disappointed,\u201d in the judge\u2019s decision and planned to appeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barke\u2019s attorney Mark Rosen said the entire case was a \u201cpolitical vendetta\u201d against Barke over her support of charter schools, pointing out how the Fair Political Practices Commission, California\u2019s primary campaign watchdog, fined Barke for $3,200 and then closed the book.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a first-time candidate, she made technical mistakes on her disclosure forms, and she freely admitted and corrected those mistakes and paid a reasonable fine,\u201d Rosen wrote in a Tuesday statement. \u201cRather than acknowledging the FPPC\u2019s decision, Mrs. Barke\u2019s political opponents engaged in lawfare to continue pursuing Mrs. Barke in court as part of their political campaign against her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The issue came to light after Lynne Riddle, a retired federal bankruptcy judge, filed a complaint in 2023 highlighting that Barke reported nearly no income for years and requested that OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer launch a civil prosecution of Barke for the undisclosed income.<\/p>\n

Read: Lawsuit Claims OC Board of Education Member Failed to Disclose $14 Million in Income<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Spitzer opted not to prosecute, with his spokesperson saying they declined because the FPPC did not present them with any evidence of criminal activity, Riddle did it herself, hiring a lawyer and taking Barke to court over the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The undisclosed money included both her income from her job at the California Policy Center, a thinktank in Sacramento, and \u201ccommunity property income,\u201d according to the ruling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial interest disclosures are critical to the public. When elected officials flout their disclosure obligations like this, it undermines public\u2019s right to honest and ethical government,\u201d Riddle wrote in a statement last week. \u201cThe Court\u2019s decision vindicates the public\u2019s right to know what their elected officials are doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tim Shaw, president of the OC Board of Education and a candidate for county supervisor, said that while Barke \u201cgoofed\u201d much of the blame rests on her ex-husband Dr. Jeff Barke, who Shaw claims told Mari she did not need to report his income.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A call to Dr. Barke\u2019s medical office went unreturned Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Jeff blew it and gave her bad advice, Mari blew it by listening to his bad advice and turning in the form without listing it,\u201d Shaw said in a Tuesday interview. \u201cIn retrospect, that was obviously a profound mistake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a statement that Barke repeated in her own legal briefs, saying she didn\u2019t think she needed to report it based on her then-husband\u2019s advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colover disagreed with that argument in her ruling, noting that it was \u201cunreasonable\u201d for Mari to rely on her ex-husband\u2019s advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not only wrong, it is incomprehensible that anyone with defendants\u2019 sophistication would rely on such a statement,\u201d Colover wrote. \u201cThe Court finds that Defendant understood, or reasonably should have understood, the importance of complete and accurate disclosure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shaw also lambasted the fines Barke is facing from the court as \u201coverkill,\u201d saying the \u201cpolitical cost\u201d of the mistake and the $3,200 fine were more than enough in penalty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no malice there. She just was being sloppy and lazy, that\u2019s not good, but there wasn\u2019t some grand scheme to hide from the public,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cI still love her. She\u2019s goofed and is making up for it now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shaw also said he wants to change policies moving forward to ensure that staff from the OC Department of Education review the board\u2019s Form 700s to be sure they are properly disclosing their income, a practice that was not in place when Barke joined the board in 2018.<\/p>\n

Read: Orange County\u2019s Wild West of Campaign Finance: The Board of Education<\/a><\/p>\n

The board has also faced repeated questions over its lack of campaign finance regulations, which allow special interest groups to give unlimited amounts of money directly to candidates\u2019 campaign funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org. <\/p>\n

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