Voigts - "They like me. They really like me."

(The inspiration for today’s headline comes from the Oscar speech by Sally Field when she said “You like me, you really like me”)

We‘ve been discussing campaign finance reform, something virtually everyone is in favor of, except for the three Lake Forest City Councilmen who take special interest money. Hamilton, Voigts, and Robinson shot down a proposed ordinance at the last Council meeting.

MONEY WILL GO UNDERGROUND?

Robinson claimed that the ordinance would force the money to go underground, but that’s simply not true (Click Here). It might mean that some people would give to Political Action Committees (PACs) or Independent Expenditure Committees (IEs) but that still wouldn’t hide the contributions, because PACs and IEs also have reporting requirements.

MONEY HAS ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO INFLUENCE?

Hamilton claimed that special interest money didn’t influence his decisions, so why limit them. Yet Hamilton and his Gang vote 100% of the time for the people and companies who give them the money. Tuesday night he denied that he did it 100% of the time, but refused to give a single example in which he voted against someone who gave him money. On the other side, there are ample illustrations of Hamilton voting with the money (Click Here).

I'M PROTECTING THE AVERAGE CITIZEN?

Hamilton also claimed that he takes special interest money so that wealthy people don’t buy the election (Click Here). But a look at the two most recent elections shows that it is Hamilton and his Gang members who try to buy elections, using special interest money to outspend everyone else.

• In 2014 when I ran against Hamilton, more than twice as much money was spent trying to get Hamilton elected, and all that money came from special interests, either before or after the election. Yet I outpolled Hamilton.
• In 2016, Robinson spent more than three times as much money as Basile did, yet Basile outpolled him.

Hamilton is correct – someone is trying to buy the elections. But it’s the Gang of 3 who are trying to do it, and they are using special interest money to do this.

THE MONEY IS A SIGN OF AFFECTION

Voigts was silent, but in the past he’s claimed that companies give him money because they respect and admire him and they agree with his policies. The money isn’t an attempt to buy his vote, it’s simply recognition of their admiration for the type of person he is.

Hmmm.

Let’s look at some examples.

• Waste Management used to have the city’s garbage contract. When they had the contract, they gave Voigts $1,000 contributions. When they lost the contract the contributions stopped. Did they admire Voigts when they had the contract and then suddenly stop admiring him when they lost the contract?
• With Waste Management out of the way, the new guy, CR&R, started to admire Voigts. They gave him $999 (10/18/14) and then another $1,000 (10/5/15). Prior to trying to get and then getting the contract, CR&R never gave Voigts any money. Now they do.
• Consider Brookfield, the real estate developer who made millions of dollars as a result of Voigts’ votes. They admired him when they needed the zoning changes and variances, giving him $250 and $500 several times, but he got his last contribution in 2015, after they no longer needed his votes. Prior to needing his votes, there was no apparent admiration, and after they no longer needed his votes, the admiration disappeared, but when his vote was necessary for them to make millions of dollars, the money flowed into Voigts’ account.
• Or consider the case of Marcia Rudolph, who got money from Brookfield in anticipation of her vote, and when they realized that she wasn’t going to roll over so easily, they spent nearly $100,000 to get her out of office, succeeding, and launching the political career of Dwight Robinson who today continues to depend on special interest money.

Voigts’ idea that he gets money from people or companies because they admire his policies doesn’t seem to be supported by the evidence. Companies give him money because they want his vote. If they no longer have a City contract, they stop. If they don’t have a City contract, they don’t start. It’s that simple.

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 May 20 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.