Ventura County's campaign finance commission dismissed charges Friday against a firefighters' union committee and decided to hear a complaint about a group that campaigned against former Supervisor Judy Mikels in 2006.

The complaint against Firefighters for a Better Government, filed by the county's elections office, accused the group of filing its last semiannual report nearly two months late.

The report was due July 31 and was filed Sept. 25, according to a memo to the Campaign Finance Ethics Commission by Craig Steele, an attorney who investigated the matter for the commission.

The firefighters' committee paid a late filing penalty of $100, so Steele recommended the Campaign Finance Ethics Commission drop the matter. The commission agreed by a 4-0 vote.

The anti-Mikels group, Ventura County Citizens for a Full-Time Supervisor, campaigned last year for Jim Dantona, who finished ahead of Mikels in the primary and then lost to Peter Foy in a runoff.

In complaints brought by both a pro-Mikels group and the elections office, the group was accused of spending money from an account that received contributions larger than the county's limit of $600 per person.

According to statements filed by Ventura County Citizens for a Full-Time Supervisor, the group received six donations of $1,300 each and one donation of $2,500.

The Campaign Finance Ethics Commission voted to hear the case in February, following Steele's recommendation that there is sufficient evidence to proceed.

The pro-Mikels group Friends of Judy Mikels was accused of similar violations stemming from the 2006 race. In September, the group settled the matter by paying a $400 fine.

Steele told the commission Friday that he thinks the Ventura County Citizens for a Full-Time Supervisor case might also be settled.

"I'm recommending a full evidentiary hearing in the hopes that will help us to spur a resolution of the matter," he said.

The case is drawing to a close a year and a half after the 2006 primary, making it the last case from that election to be resolved, Steele said.

In an unrelated matter, the Campaign Finance Ethics Commission heard a "confession" from Carroll Dean Williams, a frequent candidate for various local offices who attends nearly every meeting and is often loudly critical of the commission.

Williams said he plans to run for county supervisor next year and is raising money without filing the disclosures required by the county campaign finance ordinance.

"I've been doing everything I can do to violate this ordinance, and no one wants to hold me accountable," he said. "I'm violating the ordinance. What are you going to do about it?"

After the meeting, commission member Georgianna Regnier said the commission has no plans to investigate Williams at this point. If he files the formal paperwork to run for office and still has not disclosed who his donors are, then the elections office would probably file a complaint against him, she said.