In September, on our main daily news page, the FlashReport featured an LA Times article, “Cities, counties pay price for Capitol clout,” which reported that last year local government in California spent nearly $40 million on capitol lobbyists – more than labor, oil or business.
The League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties justified these enormous expenditures of tax dollars by claiming that unlike other private interests, they can’t make political contributions to legislators and causes.
Apparently that might not be the case… In recent weeks, the League of California Cities campaign finance reports and a leaked memo suggests otherwise. In fact, their reported lobbying expenses are just the tip of the iceberg of a large and powerful political machine financed by California taxpayers.
Recent campaign reports and an internal memo reveals that the League is well on their way to spending millions of dollars on an eminent domain ballot measure that the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office says, “is not likely to significantly alter current government land acquisition practices.” By some accounts, they will need to spend up to $4 million dollars in the coming weeks to mobilize public employees and certain development interests which depend on seizing the property of others to collect up to 1 million signatures and, perhaps, another $15 million or more to pass their ballot measure and to defeat a competing ballot measure sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Farm Bureau and property rights advocates
In addition to paid signature gatherers, a leaked League memo (link to memo) reveals some insight as to how these taxpayer financed organizations mobilize members and public employees, in a manner reminiscent of the political machine of the late Chicago Mayor Richard Daley . Every city in California has been assigned a number of signatures they must collect to qualify their ballot measure – specifically encouraging mayors to “challenge” their city managers and department heads to meet signature gathering goals!
Let me spell this out for you – the very people who profess to be working for you are asking public employees to collect signatures to qualify a ballot measure that undermines your private property rights!
Here is what we know about the League and their allies – they have spent millions of dollars on lobbyists to use their power to influence legislators to defeat any real Kelo reforms in the California State Legislature. Now these organizations are spending as much as $4 million to qualify a phony eminent domain ballot measure. It is virtually impossible to determine if they are using your tax dollars because they are using a special political account that is unlike traditional political action committees (PACs) which are fully disclosed under California’s political reporting laws. Thus, we don’t know if they are accepting contributions from developers or city contractors that don’t want their names disclosed to the public – especially those with pending projects that involve displacing property owners by eminent domain.
But what is even more remarkable is that this kind of political activity by taxpayer financed organizations has been taking place for years. Last, year the League funneled more than $3.5 million anonymous dollars into the campaign against Proposition 90. They have already moved nearly $1.5 million more anonymous dollars into their current, deceptive effort to derail legitimate eminent domain reform. Clearly, they don’t want their power to seize your property by eminent domain curbed in any way!
You would think that the law would hold taxpayer financed organizations to a higher standard to ensure greater transparency and accountability! But that is not the case.
Every elected office holder should question how the League is financing their political activity and demand to know the source of every penny spent to deny their constituents private property rights.
If not, perhaps, voters should consider doing what the State of Texas did: allow local government to hire lobbyists but prohibit tax dollars from being spent on taxpayer financed organizations like the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Redevelopment Association.
Should the League’s political machine defeat eminent domain reform again, there will be a call for limiting taxpayer financed lobbying. That is for certain.
If you are aware of any public employees being pressured to sign the League of California Cities’ petition, you can email me confidentially by clicking the "send an anoymous tip" link at the top right corner of this webpage.
Disclaimer: FR readers should be aware that I did some professional consulting work for Californians for Private Property Rights Protection for a short period of time, though I am not currently engaged in any services on their behalf.
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