More money in Senate race

In the last two weeks, independent committees have spent more than $400,000 in the race to replace state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who is forced to leave office due to term limits.

This unprecedented level of independent spending also is carrying a new level of complication. One complaint has been filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission alleging the independent expenditures on behalf of Oliva are in violation of state regulations. And FPPC officials confirmed today that an anonymous complaint also has been filed against the $460,000 independent expenditure made on behalf of Michael Brownrigg by his mother, Linda.

The Democrats running are Redwood City Councilwoman Masur, Millbrae Councilwoman Oliva, Burlingame Councilman Brownrigg, public interest entrepreneur Josh Becker and former assemblywoman Sally Lieber, who, incidentally, put another $100,000 of her own money into race, in addition to a prior $100,000. Also running are Republican Alex Glew and Libertarian John Webster.

TEACHERS WEIGH IN: The biggest boost in the last several days has been to Masur. An independent committee reported spending $300,001 on Masur’s behalf — $75,000 from the California Federation of Teachers, $75,001 from the California Medical Association and $150,000 from the California Teachers Association. These are among the most active political groups in the state and the two teachers’ groups are among the largest labor organizations. In addition, Masur enjoyed a surge of late, direct contributions of more than $34,000, including nearly $24,000 from attorneys at the politically influential law firm led by Joe Cotchett.

But the spending on behalf of Masur still doesn’t reach the $527,000 independent expenditure spent by the California Association of Realtors for Oliva. At least four pieces of campaign mail have been sent out by CAR for Oliva, with the prospect of more. 

The mail pieces have details of Oliva’s plans to solve the housing crisis and end homelessness and are full of photos of her. Now, it seems all this can be conveniently downloaded from her campaign website without any coordination or foreknowledge from the campaign, which is the very strict standard required by law. 

The FPPC complaint, filed by Pacifican and Democratic activist Dan Stegink, alleges that the Realtor organization did coordinate with Oliva and cites material in the mailings that isn’t on Oliva’s website. It also cites as one witness Gina Zari, the government affairs director of the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, a friend of Oliva’s and, if the scuttlebutt is true, someone who urged Oliva to run for the Senate. None of that is proof, of course, but it shows the suspicion these independent expenditures can generate. The FPPC hasn’t released any information on the complaint against Linda Brownrigg, but both could be trouble.

If I read the FPPC advisories correctly, and that’s a risky bet, the independent committee carries the burden of proving that it didn’t coordinate with the candidate. It’s called a “rebuttable presumption,” and that lies at the heart of both the complaints. Most of the time, FPPC complaints end up in fines that seem negligible, but the commission has been tough on sustained allegations against independent committees and has been known to levy fines as much as three times the original expenditure.

SPEAKING OF THE FPPC: The commission has ruled there was “insufficient evidence” then-Redwood City councilman Jeff Gee violated the Political Reform Act in his role as an executive at the construction firm Swinerton. In fact, the letter makes it clear the anonymous complaint, filed 18 months ago, was pretty weak. In other words, it was politically motivated to damage his reputation during an election.

WHO’S WHO? Becker’s campaign finance reports contain consistently frustrating entries for dozens of people who have given him thousands of dollars. The entries list donor names and that these persons are “not employed.” The donor entry is supposed to list a town and an occupation. Here’s an example: A recent $5,000 is from Tony Fadell of Coral Gables, Florida, who is described as “not employed.” In fact, Fadell is considered the inventor of the iPhone, led the development of the iPod at Apple, and, according to Wikipedia, is principal at investment firm Future Shape. Becker’s reports are chockablock with this kind of dubious practice. It’s either sloppiness or intentionally misleading.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.