(Originally posted April 10, 2010) With just days left before the Santa Clarita City Council election on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, there is much more information pouring out about the money, entities and individuals running and associated with the Political Action Committees (PAC). One PAC appears to have largely financed the campaigns of the incumbents and another has at least paid for a mailer for one challenger.

The “Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee” has spent heavily on the City Council incumbents and the California Republican Assembly has financed a mailer for the Gauny campaign. Both of these organizations are registered PACs that funnel money to support various campaigns around the County and State. The big difference between these two PACs is the money trail, the transparency of information, and the following of filing requirements.

PACs and political candidates are required to file certain forms with the California Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC) so that there is transparency of where contributions are coming from and where that money is being spent. PACs and other Political Committees must file FPPC Form 460 on the required timelines and major donors are supposed to file FPPC Form 461 disclosing an “individual or entity that makes monetary or nonmonetary contributions (including loans) to state or local officeholders, candidates and committees totaling $10,000 or more in a calendar year.”

Also, a FPPC Form 465 is required of all “officeholders, candidates, recipient committees, major donor committees, and independent expenditure committees that make independent expenditures totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year to support or oppose a single candidate, a single measure, or the qualification of a single measure. Form 465 is required to be filed in addition to any other pre-election, semi-annual, or late independent expenditure report required to be filed.”

The California Republican Assembly (CRA)“Independent Expenditure Committee, ID #902368”, which paid for a mailer supporting David Gauny’s candidacy, is completely funded by other people, businesses, or groups interested in supporting CRA endorsed candidates. It is NOT funded by membership dues. People/groups/businesses that make contributions to this IE PAC will be listed as contributors on the reports. The CRA also endorsed Gauny and has been forthright with meeting all its filing requirements and disclosures as outline by the State of California FPPC. This has been confirmed on the California Secretary of State website.

On the other hand, Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee which has aggressively financed the three Santa Clarita City Council incumbents has a very checked past of late filings, incomplete information and questionable financing. Some financial information appearing on forms filed with the State do not appear to add up or are not fully completed.   

Going back to the 2006 City Council election only one pre-election Form 460 statement was filed by Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee covering 02/26/06-03/17/06 time period. There was apparently no other pre-election statements filed. What is interesting about this is that an additional $12,000+ in contributions and expenditures were received and spent between 03/17/06 and the election date but disclosures were not filed until 07/24/2006 – more than 3 months after the April 12, 2006 election. Essentially this shielded the individuals and businesses contributing this money from the voters. 

Now fast-forward to 2008, there were no pre-election reports filed other than a Form 465 submitted on March 25, 2008 showing one expenditure of $29,500 for the Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee. There were no contributions reported at all prior to this local council election. The Form 465 which showed the $29,500 expenditure on one candidate at that time, Laurie Ender, but the required Form 460 disclosure was not filed until 07/11/08, again three months after the election, which showed a single contribution of $30,000 received on March 12, 2008.

Despite attempts by local SCV press outlets, regardless of how half-hearted some may have been to source the contributions prior to election, the committee did not file the required disclosures until July 11, 2008. That was clearly a tactic to prevent the voters from knowing where the money was coming from.

Of course we now know that the $30,000 Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee received on March 12, 2008 was from G&L Realty of Beverly Hills. G&L Realty is the large developer which had a highly controversial expansion project at the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital before the Santa Clarita City Council at the time of the 2008 Council election. It is worth noting that apparently no major donor reports (FPPC Form 461) were ever filed by G&L Realty for that hefty donation.  

The $30,000 G&L Realty expenditure was combined with what turned out to be an illegal $12,000 expenditure from sitting council member Frank Ferry’s committee. This provided $42,000 in support for then candidate Laurie Ender who, once elected to the Santa Clarita City Council, then cast the deciding vote for the G&L Reality project that was in front of the City Council at the time.

Now jump to the current 2010 City Council election and as has been reported here at The Beacon, one Form 460 was filed by the Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee for the period of January 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010 with a single contribution for $20,000 noted. There doesn’t appear to be any major donor report (Form 461) filed by G&L Realty, the single contributor of that $20,000 and as stated the Beverly Hills developer with projects in the City of Santa Clarita.

What is interesting about that filing is that the information provided does not seem to add up. Five full-color mailers were sent to an estimated 7,000 absentee voters, which is roughly 35,000 pieces mailed, after the 3/27/10 reporting period ended. But at the close of this reporting period, only $9,000 was reported on Form 460 to be used for direct mailers. The second batch of mailings to poll voters arrived in mailboxes on or around April 2, 2010, yet the expenditures totaling $23,578 was not reported until April 7, 2010, estimated to be about 10 days late.

Now realize that 5 full color mailers including one that was four pages were mailed to approximately 15,000 households in the City of Santa Clarita. That is about 75,000 pieces of mail that had to be designed, printed, postage added and sent to these high propensity City voters. That seems quite costly!

But wait a minute, the Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee appears to have reported in filings spending $31,578 on direct mail marketing yet they have only received $20,000 in a contribution from G&L Realty. Where did the rest of the money come from to finance these massive political mailings?  Still missing are any additional contributions to the committee, reports of which should have been filed within 24 hours of receipt of any monies.

Aside from the fact that Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee has failed to file complete and accurate disclosures in a timely manner what they have filed is being done at the Los Angeles County Registrar office in Norwalk; a more than two-hour drive from Santa Clarita. The County currently does not offer electronic reporting to the public which makes it difficult to access these reports. Candidate TimBen Boydston actually had to drive to Norwalk to get copies of the Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee filings.

Citizens for Integrity in Government has been the largest independent expenditure committee involved in the City of Santa Clarita council elections since 2006. In the last two elections, only one entity –G&L Realty or its principals– have been the sole contributors to this PAC which has supported four of the five sitting City Council member campaigns. In fact, it has been noted that G&L Realty has provided over 75% of the contributions to Citizens for Integrity in Government since its formation in 2006.

In a Signal article dated April 3, 2010, incumbent Marsha McLean is reported to have said; “… she knew nothing about Citizens for Integrity in Government and was surprised to see the brochures they sent.” That is a bold-faced lie since in 2008 the Santa Clarita City Council claimed that it was going to look into the Citizens for Integrity in Government because of numerous complaints and then dropped the matter after the election that year. There is little doubt the Councilwoman McLean knows plenty about Citizens for Integrity in Government.

A company named Encompass Limited lists on their website Citizens for Integrity in Government PAC among their clients. The principals of this firm, Todd Blair, Garrett Biggs and Scott Wilk, were hired to work with the variious incumbents in this election and were also used by Laurie Ender in the 2008 election.

Scott Wilk wrote a glowing –and free- endorsement of the three incumbents in Saturday’s Signal and neglected to disclose that he is affiliated with the incumbents and the PAC Citizens for Integrity in Government. This is exactly the type of disclosures that voters should be aware of leading up to an election especially from folks making endorsements. (By the way, Scott Wilk is a daily contributor of the Political Roundup to The Beacon!)

However, Scott did make in error in saying that the incumbents were the ”only endorsed Republicans in the race.” The truth is that David Gauny recieved the two-thirds majority vote for the coveted endorsement of the Santa Clarita Valley California Republican Assembly; the incumbents vied for it but only Gauny got this “gold seal” of approval.

Further, The Beacon has reported a number of times that all of the FPPC Forms for Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee have been filed or filled out by Armando Azarloza who also spearheaded the independent expenditures supporting Laurie Ender in her run for the City Council in 2008. Mr. Azarloza is also the former campaign manager for Councilman Frank Ferry. This well documented fact has escaped some of the local media as they continue to spin in favor of the incumbents they have endorsed.

It appears as though G&L Realty is bank rolling the incumbents who have and will continue to vote favorably for this Beverly Hills developer’s projects. In return, the City of Santa Clarita has been getting an air of Tammany Hall for its appearance of what can only be described as a dubious system of buying or controlling City Council votes. At the center of it all is the City’s very own “Boss Tweed” Councilman Frank Ferry who appears to have his finger or those of his close associates in much of these questionable dealings and tactics.

The voters will have to decide on Tuesday, April 13^th, if it will be business as usual or if there needs to be new blood and a fresh change to the current Santa Clarita City Council. Most certainly all of these dubious, disingenuous and underhanded tactics will fade away quickly and will assuredly resurface in the next election cycle.