Soft money plays hard part in council election

Dave Brooks

With the election only weeks away, mailboxes around Surf City have

begun brimming with campaign advertisements from some of the 16

candidates seeking one of three spots on the City Council this

November.

Mailers have become a popular way for candidates to connect with

voters, but often the return address is more telling than the issues

the candidates tackle.

Take a look at the fine print and you’ll find that a large portion

of local political mailings don’t come from the candidates, but from

third-party groups that spend tens of thousands of dollars of “soft

money” to endorse their picks for City Council.

Financial filings with the City Clerk’s office show that this

year’s two biggest soft money contributors are the city’s own police

and fire unions, both of which are entering their first round of

contract negotiations for 2005 with the City Council this Friday.

Each election, the unions endorse a slate of candidates and

purchase political advertising using money raised from union members.

This year the Huntington Beach Police Officer’s Assn. has chosen to

endorse Don Hansen and Keith Bohr, and according to its political

action committee filings, it has $32,000 to spend on advertisements.

The Huntington Beach Firefighters Assn. has offered only to endorse

Bohr, and as of June it had $86,900 in the bank.

Huntington Beach’s campaign finance laws allow candidates to

collect $300 maximum donations from individuals or organizations to

spend on their campaign. There is no limit on soft money donations

collected and spent by independent parties who are not officially

connected to any campaign. Since a union can’t legally give a

candidate a check for $10,000, labor groups might instead spend that

much on campaign literature supporting a particular candidate and

mail it out independently.

“The majority of people go by those mailers,” said Ed Kerins,

president of Huntington Beach Tomorrow. “It’s something more tangible

than seeing a sign. The sign gives you name recognition, but the

mailer connects you to the candidate.”

To get the endorsement, candidates have to go through an interview

process with the various unions, which have a strong record of

picking winners. Union President Russ Reinhart didn’t show up for a

scheduled interview on this article, citing police duties, but under

his watch the police union endorsed three of the four winners in the

2002 election, spending nearly $9,000 in direct advertising for

Councilman Gil Coerper, and another $5,300 for Mayor Cathy Green and

Mayor Pro Tempore Jill Hardy. In 2000 the police union supported Pam

Houchen, and in 1998 it endorsed Dave Garofalo, Peter Green and

Shirley Dettloff.

“They’re not trying to find candidates that they can help win,

inasmuch as they’re looking for candidates that they think will win,”

said City Council candidate Joe Carchio.

Each year, city unions must negotiate their contracts with the

City Council, and after several years without a pay increase, the

climate around City Hall suggests that the police union could be

looking for a raise.

“People need to be a little cautious when they receive large

amounts of contributions from groups whose contracts they vote on,”

said former City Councilman Ralph Bauer, “My experience has been that

people with strong fire and police support tend to vote that way.”

Unions aren’t the only groups that make soft money donations to

candidates. Huntington Beach Tomorrow, a powerful smart-growth

advocacy group, plans to spend $10,000 this year to support its two

endorsements for City Council, Steve Ray and Bohr

“It’s really small potatoes,” said Kerins, who estimates that the

money can only be used to send out one mailer.

In recent years, California Coastal Communities, whose

subsidiaries include Hearthside Homes, property-owners of the Bolsa

Chica wetlands, have been one of the biggest local political

contributors. Financial statements from the Secretary of State

Department show that in the 2000 election, Hearthside made three

$20,000 donations into a Newport Beach-based group called the Voter

Education Project to be spent on the campaigns of Bill Borden,

Houchen and Coerper.

Hearthside also spent nearly $850,000 in 2002 to support a state

initiative to fund the purchase of the wetlands for conservation

using state bonds. A prior ruling by the California Coastal

Commission made it difficult for Hearthside to develop the property,

and the bonds would buy a portion of the land for $65 million.

The soft money donations haven’t arisen as a major political issue

this election, partially because they don’t ensure victory for a

candidate. City Councilman Dave Sullivan won his third election in

2002 without support from either union and activists Debbie Cook and

Connie Boardman also secured spots on the dais in 2000 without

outside help.

Even with union support, candidate Hansen said, there is no

assurance that the council will acquiesce to labor.

“I think their endorsement shows that we have a similar vision for

the city of Huntington Beach,” he said. “In no point in our

discussions were there any strings attached. We made it clear that we

may not agree 100 percent of the time, but at least we can

collaborate through the process.”

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].