Mayor Claims - "I took $0 from Developers"

Yesterday we talked about the fact that Mayor Hamilton has been cruising around town and stopping at those places where the recall supporters are gathering signatures and trying to talk people out of signing. With 1,000 signatures under their belt so far, his efforts don’t seem to be succeeding, and they still have more than 3 months to go.

Hamilton has been making several claims, and I wanted to deal with them here.

He Takes No Money From Developers

Hamilton claims that he took “zero” dollars from developers. Let’s see if that’s true.

Hamilton admits to getting the benefit of $10,000 spent by developer Meritage Homes on flyers that supported his candidacy and that of Scott Voigts. He also admitted to voting in favor of Meritage’s request to re-zone an area and also to their request not to build affordable homes. But instead of giving the money directly to Hamilton, Meritage Homes instead gave it to a PAC (Political Action Committee) who spent it on his behalf. In this case he’s technically correct because the developer didn’t give it to his campaign committee directly, although everyone knows that he did “get” it in the sense that the money benefited him. In this case a developer spent $10,000 to help Hamilton, and coordinated the help with Hamilton’s ally on the Council Dwight Robinson. But because it was an independent expenditure, he didn’t “take” it even though he “got” it.

But that’s not the whole story. Hamilton did “take” thousands of dollars from other developer financed and supported PACs and this money came directly to his campaign committee. Here are some examples –

• · Commercial Real Estate PAC - $500 (9/9/14)
• · California Apartment Association PAC - $750 (9/9/14)
• · Commercial Real Estate PAC - $500 (9/25/14)
• · Building Industry Association - $1000 (10/11/14)
• · Building Industry Association - $1000 (10/16/14)
• · Manufactured Housing Educational Trust - $250 (11/7/2014)
• · Commercial Real Estate PAC - $500 (3/3/15)

He also received direct support from lobbyists who work for developers among others -

• · Faubel Public Affairs - $250 (6/8/15)
• · Lewis Consulting - $250 (9/4/14)
• · Townsend Public Affairs - $250 (12/31/14)

Hence, Hamilton’s claim that he received no money from developers appears disingenuous. He received money directly and indirectly from groups sponsored or supported by developers. It’s difficult to come up with an exact figure, since the money being funneled through PACs or Lobbyists represents conglomerated funds, which can be mixed in with other interests (e.g., builders). But the bottom line is that $14,000 can be traced to Hamilton from developers or developer backed PACs and lobbyists, directly to his campaign committee or indirectly through independent expenditures.

Bear in mind Hamilton did not personally get any money from developers, at least that we know of. That would be illegal. Candidates can only get money legally through their campaign committees, though the use of PACs is an increasingly popular way to funnel money for candidates, and this can be done either directly or indirectly, as was done by developer Meritage.

More Special Interest Money

Though he made no claims that he takes “zero” money from companies doing business with the City, this is as good a place as any to talk about that practice. Hamilton, along with his voting bloc colleagues on the Council Dwight Robinson and Scott Voigts, take money from companies with contracts with the City. Here’s Hamilton’s take –

• · Athens Services (street sweeper) - $1,000 (6/8/15 )
• · CR&R (trash) - $1,000 (1/31/15)

Money from Fellow Council Members

To complete the picture of Hamilton’s finances, he also gets money from companies/PACs associated with his fellow Council members. Here’s the details -

• · LA Harbor Grain Terminal (Dwight Robinson) - $1,000 (9/4/14)
• · Wagner for Assembly (Voigts’ boss) - $10,000 (10/21/14) using an independent expenditure

That’s nearly $30,000 that can be traced to special or vested interests. And whenever he’s had to opportunity to vote, he’s voted for the special interests. Here’s his record -

• · He voted for Meritage’s request to re-zone
• · He opposed requiring Meritage to build affordable homes
• · He voted to put Scott Voigts on Vector Control even when there was a better candidate.
• · He voted to put Scott Voigts on the TCA even when there was a better candidate.
• · He voted not to sanction Dwight Robinson for calling a Councilman “moron”, “imbecile”, etc.
• · He voted to approve Athens as our street sweeping company
• · He voted for Baker Ranch’s request to re-zone
• · He opposed requiring Baker Ranch to build affordable homes

None of this is illegal. But that doesn’t mean it’s right.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Jan 30 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library

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