Josie Gonzales called it a campaign loan, but records she filed with the state Fair Political Practices Commission say otherwise.

State-mandated records show the $20,000 she got from Board of Supervisors Chairman Dennis Hansberger was a gift.

Fifth District Supervisor-elect Gonzales received the money from the politically powerful Hansberger about 72 hours before Election Day.

"Obviously the FPPC believes it's important for elected officials and candidates running for office to be honest in reporting contributions,' said the commission's Sacramento-based Executive Director Mark Krausse.

"It's all about transparency in campaign financing.

"The voters need to know when they cast a vote who is supporting a candidate,' Krausse said.

Copies of California Form 497, titled "Late Contribution Report' and filed by Hansberger and Gonzales on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30, explicitly identify the $20,000 as a contribution.

State law requires separate forms that distinguish loans from contributions.

On Nov. 23, Gonzales told The Sun that Hansberger loaned her campaign $20,000 "as a cushion.' The contribution, which she repeatedly called a loan, was an act of kindness by Hansberger, she said.

"I didn't need the money,' Gonzales said during the earlier interview, although she conceded that her campaign faced "some debt.' She also promised not to use Hansberger's money to erase the red ink.

"I will pay it back,' she said. "There are no strings.'

Gonzales attended Tuesday's supervisors meeting but did not address questions raised by spectators during time set aside for public comment. Gonzales, who defeated state Assemblyman John Longville for the strategic and hotly contested supervisorial seat, told The Sun last week she intends to return the $20,000.

Gonzales did not return calls seeking comment for this report.

Hansberger also did not return messages seeking comment. The chairman continued stonewalling The Sun's efforts to obtain an interview, including the chance to rebut a newspaper report. The day after Gonzales defeated Longville, Hansberger told The Sun that alluvial fans are stable. The fans are home to thousands of dwellings in county foothills.

On Nov. 23, Hansberger denied making the statement.

"I've never had that conversation,' Hansberger said at last week's supervisors meeting. "I didn't say that.'

Whether the $20,000 is a loan or a contribution, the exchange of campaign cash by the county's top elected leaders disturbed Bob Minick of Rialto, who read a prepared statement to the supervisors Tuesday morning.

Minick called on all five supervisors to announce publicly they will no longer contribute to each other's campaigns.

"This would go a long way toward cleaning up the perception of rampant corruption at the San Bernardino (County) Board of Supervisors,' Minick said. "'Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' may work in bed, but it's a bit too incestuous for my taste in politics.'

Hansberger and other board members listened to Minick's comments but did not respond.

Hansberger, who has family ties and other close associations with developers, gave the $20,000 to Gonzales on Oct. 29. Gonzales, who has described herself as pro-growth and pro-development, defeated Longville on Nov. 2. Longville wrote a bill that was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September. The law establishes an alluvial fan floodplain task force.

It is expected to bring closer scrutiny of development on the fans, giant slopes of mountain erosion that have spilled out of canyons over thousands of years. The foothill fan areas of north Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino and Highland comprise much of the region's remaining land coveted by the multibillion-dollar home-building industry.

The supervisor-elect also decried the newspaper's reports raising questions about Hansberger's relationship with his land-developing father, saying it "has to stop.'

"I need to put a stop to this at the get-go,' she said. "There's no need that every action must be scrutinized.'

Hansberger's father, Leroy, owns 15 lots bordering the Cedar Glen Redevelopment Project. The fact is significant because Dennis Hansberger has championed the plan from its inception and the properties would stand to grow in value because the project could bring better roads, along with water and sewer lines, close to his father's properties.

But the chairman never revealed the power of attorney that his father granted him over the elder Hansberger's real estate holdings, which concentrate on development in the Inland counties.

Both father and son said they forgot about the power of attorney and that it had been replaced in the late 1980s. Leroy Hansberger conceded the authority given to his son had never been revoked.

Both men said they broke no laws and that there was no conflict of interest in their dealings. But Dennis Hansberger recused himself from voting on the issue last month and his father later revoked the power of attorney.