A state ethics commission on Thursday fined former Contra Costa County elections chief Joe Canciamilla $150,000 — one of its largest penalties of the year — for illegally spending $130,529 of campaign funds on a vacation in Asia, a remodel of his Hawaii home and other personal expenses in the last several years.

The Fair Political Practices Commission leveled the fine by unanimously approving a settlement stemming from a Franchise Tax Board audit that revealed Canciamilla violated campaign laws more than 30 times, then provided false information and doctored bank statements to hide his financial misconduct.

At Thursday’s meeting in Sacramento, commissioner Allison Hayward said she finds it “particularly repugnant” when politicians direct campaign funds for personal use

“It’s not about moving country forward,” she said. “This is taking resources supposed to be doing that and sucking it into someone’s personal lifestyle. It’s misleading donors and has a smell of fraud to it. Then there’s the tax evasion.”

Half a dozen Contra Costa residents who trekked to Sacramento for the meeting urged commissioners to reject the settlement, which they depicted as too lenient, and hold Canciamilla accountable for all 51 counts instead of the 30 stipulated to.

Although the commission has referred the case to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating the allegations against Canciamilla, no criminal charges have been filed yet, office spokesman Scott Alonso said Thursday.

Just days after Canciamilla on Oct. 31 suddenly announced his retirement one year into his new term, the Fair Political Practices Commission revealed that audits discovered he had commingled campaign and personal funds and used the campaign money to cover personal expenses between May 2011 and June 2015.

Among other things, he spent $30,000 in campaign funds on a vacation to Asia and to buy airfare for a trip to London and Washington, D.C., for him and his spouse, which was later canceled, according to a stipulation document. He also used the funds to pay off credit card charges incurred from remodeling his house in Hawaii.

Canciamilla concealed the expenditure by either not reporting them or overstating the available cash on hand in campaign finance forms, according to the stipulation. He reimbursed his committee between 2013 and 2015, but the committee did not report the receipt of those funds.

Canciamilla is the second elected official in Contra Costa County in recent years found to have kept campaign funds for himself.

In 2016, Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson acknowledged using $66,372 of campaign funds for meals, gasoline, hotel rooms and cellphone bills — among other personal expenses. He pleaded no contest to a felony count of perjury, resigned from office and was disbarred.

Canciamilla’s case is similar to Peterson’s, the Fair Political Practices Commission staff wrote in the agreement. Like Peterson, for example, Canciamilla signed false campaign statements under penalty of perjury. But while Peterson admitted to and reported the violations after learning he was being audited, Canciamilla instead provided altered bank records to the Franchise Tax Board staff, according to the stipulation.

“Reject this deal and charge for as many counts as possible,” Contra Costa resident Cora Mitchell urged the commission Thursday. “A message needs to be sent.”

“Our political scene at local level has been a stranglehold of corruption for a long time,” Mitchell said. “Our system is so bad right now that our county assessor is under trial right now and still feels empowered enough to run for a county supervisor seat.”

Other residents agreed, with one pointing out the clerk-recorder seat is often uncontested in Contra Costa and that Fair Political Practices Commission action is often the best tool for maintaining accountability in office.

“I was fine with holding my nose and voting for (this settlement), but that was before I heard this particular politician’s constituents speak,” commissioner Frank Cardenas said. “It was suggested this goes right to the heart of our democracy.”

He asked Galena West, the commission’s chief of enforcement, what more the commission could do to ensure “justice” is being served.

“There has to be some value in settlement,” West replied. “If we have to take every course to a hearing to get the maximum amount of fines, we will have nothing — no justice, no cases where the story is told, no resignations. We have to strike that balance.”

The stipulation agreement allows staff to lay out the details of the infractions and publicize them so voters can know what elected officials have been accused of, West said, noting “we are doing what we can with the administrative law that we have.”

Ultimately, the four commissioners voted unanimously to approve the settlement deal but also promised to consider asking the Legislature to raise the maximum amount that can be levied for violations like Canciamilla’s.

“Let that be the legacy of what he has done to you,” Cardenas told the Contra Costa residents.

“Mr. Canciamilla does not take this lightly,” Canciamilla’s attorney, Andy Rockas, said in a written statement, adding that his client paid back the disputed amounts and the fine. “Mr. Canciamilla has taken full responsibility for this situation, is humbled and embarrassed, and hopes the FPPC fines won’t severely overshadow his 46 years of public service to the residents of Contra Costa County.”

It’s unclear whether Canciamilla will get to keep his pension. Under a 2012 change to state pension laws, workers convicted of job-related felonies lose their pension benefits from the time they start committing their crimes. Cases involving Contra Costa and Los Angeles firefighters testing that law are pending at the state Supreme Court.

Cardenas called Canciamilla’s misconduct a “spectacular fall from grace.”

“This gentleman took office in 1973 at the age of 17,” Cardenas said. “He elects to end his career in this matter. It’s breathtaking arrogance.”