Mike Chandler of votesimivalley.com posted this video of Steve Sojka speaking about campaign finance regulations at Monday night's city council meeting.
I don't remember the complete story behind the $5,000 donation from Texas in 2004, but if you can fill all of us in, please do so.
Steve Sojka is clearly referencing the recent stories about donations to Barbra Williamson from the owners, employees, and related companies to CandleLight/The Vineyards that appear to some to violate the cap of $1,000 from an individual or business.
What seems strange to me is that looking at Steve Sojka's campaign finance disclosure forms ( click here to download them from the city's website ) a group of related people that appear to be from Texas also donated a large sum of money to him during this election cycle. It doesn't seem like a great idea to complain about Texas money and then have money that looks to be from the same source. If I am wrong about some of the facts here I am sure I will be corrected. Maybe they do live in Simi Valley.
On October 25th David Saperstein, Hillevi Saperstein, Alexis Saperstein, and Jonathan Saperstein all donated the maximum $1,000 to Steve Sojka's campaign.
But in a new article about campaign finance today it is reported that Steve Sojka has decided to give the money back and the mayor also agreed now that there is a project in front of the city for the property is also giving the money back. It shows smart judgment to help restore or maintain the publics' trust in our elected officials.
David Saperstein seems to really care about Ventura County elections giving money to County school board candidates, city council candidates, and others. It is clear that Republican Party leader and Dean Kunicki, who works with Saperstein, is helping to raise the money for the candidates and that's why Paul Miller gave his money back too.
The Acorn is also now reporting on campaign finance with an article out tomorrow about donations to Barbra Williamson's campaign.
Click here for that story. In the article Barbra Williamson complains about the damage to her name when newspaper articles talk about her being investigated. Because of that I think the city should move quickly to show what she did was either wrong or within the rules.
In the article she said:
"The code is written so poorly that they don't know what they wrote," she said. "How can they say I have done something wrong when they can't even decipher their own code?"
I could be wrong, but even though staff wrote it the whole council voted on the rules. If it was unclear it should have been dealt with long before the election. The council should have made sure they agreed on what it did before they voted for it. Of course, with the complexity of campaign finance and corporate structure I could see that they didn't expect an issue to come up about the clarity of the rules.
But to all the candidates, their supporters, and my other readers, let me be clear:
It is not inherently wrong to give or take money for a political campaign. Most of the candidates here are not independently wealthy and couldn't spend only their own money if that was the alternative. Looking through donations records there are a few special interests listed. But there is decent community members who want nothing more than to support their friends and elect people they support.
Besides the appearance of a conflict of interest, which in itself is a reason to avoid questionable money, I have no evidence that any council member has ever done anything unethical because of a donation. I don't see any questionable appointments or votes tied to money for any of the candidates.
Try not to rush to judgment when so many alleged campaign finance issues start as seemingly major scandals and end up with either little or no action taken.
Those in the public eye take criticism all of the time, some of it warranted and some of it not. Before you start making accusations make sure you get all of your facts in order. And like always, if you see an over the top comment that us unfair, send me an email. When I delete emails I don't say who requested to have them removed.
All of these issues are even more in focus because of the many rumors that both Barbra Williamson and Steve Sojka are thinking about running for mayor in 2 years if Paul Miller retires.
Oh, and to add more confusion here is an article about another ethics issue.
I respect many of the people involved including the elected officials, writers, and activists. If I have been unfair to any of them in my writing, please send me an email explaining why and I will rectify it.
It seems like a contradiction for Williamson to state that she doesn't mind if the city looks into her contributions, but at the same time complaining that the act of looking into the contributions is unfair because it implies she did something wrong. She is the one who created this issue through a very creative interpretation of local campaign finance rules. Her claim that the code is written poorly and difficult to decipher is simply untrue. I read the rules for myself and the meaning and intent seems pretty clear. None of the other council members seem to be having a problem interpreting the rules.
As Brian mentioned, politicians should avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Other council members have been smart enough to returned certain contributions for the sake of appearances, even when they were clearly within the rules. Barbra should just return the Gersen contributions and this story would be over. Instead she stubbornly attacks the news reporters who broke the story and tries to make herself out to be the victim. Way to go Barbra.
Saperstein owns property in Simi Valley. There are a couple of other developers that also contributed to Sojka - at least one of whom Kunicki works for - Colton Lee.
A lot of these contributors are big donors/friends to the Stricklands.
It seems like all or almost all of the Simi Valley City Council candidates are receiving money from developers - is Barbra being singled out by people out to get her? Could it be her position on the landfill expansion? The mere fact that Bubba Kidd is doing a drum beat against Barbra is reason enough for me to look for the conspiracy tin hat.
At this point, I think the entire SV city council needs to take a good hard look at itself and clean house accordingly. And the Chamber of Commerce needs to do the same.
Katie, email me if you have to, but tell me more so I can look into it. Saperstein owns Hummingbird Nest Ranch and I recall reading that he wants to sell it, which could require rezoning, which could require having friends on the council.
What's up with the Simi Chamber of Commerce? That's the first time I've ever read such a statement directed at the Chamber.
Simi Valley is reknowned for being in "lock down" and the SV Chamber and Rotary club are part of the lock down mentality. Some of the churches as well - Grace Brethern being one of them.
Saperstein has his $$$ in many elections - both East and West County. I don't know if he knows the politics or just put the $$$ on demand but he should be wised up. I can see buying influence on City Council races but he just dropped $7K on Chris Valenzano and Dan Miller - both very unsuccesful candidates for Ventura County Board of Education.
My e-mail is KatieTeague@verizon.net should you have further questions.
Part of the investigation of the contributions should include a look into the source of funds by the employees at The Vineyards. A look at their bank statements would reveal a lot. Did they all have that money in their checking accounts, or did they suddenly get a bonus at work or a large cash deposit just before they wrote the checks to Williamson?
A law firm in another county got into some trouble some years back for giving employees cash so they could make contributions in a campaign. That's illegal because they were trying to circumvent campaign finance limits.
Katie, can you define "lock down" -- I joined the chamber about two months ago for the Candidates Forum and my membership was accepted.
I agree with your remarks about Saperstein's contributions to the VC Board of Ed. I don't see the motivation there.
Supposedly Totton is now Elton's favoriate son and is being groomed to replace him in DC. Poor Glen B.
$8,000 was paid directly to campaign consultant Mark O'Hare by a third party on behalf of Barbra to run her campaign. That's an illegal campaign donation any way you look at it.
There are plenty of people questioning Barbra's creative interpretation of campaign financing rules, so it is absurd for Katie to suddenly throw out her random landfill conspiracy theory. Boy was that a left turn out of nowhere. You must have a real creative imagination. So is the Ventura County Star and City Attorney also involved in this vast WMI conspiracy?
The bottom line is that the Gersen contributions are highly questionable and clearly at odds with the intent of the local campaign finance rules. Anybody who reads the rules will find that they are pretty straightforward and easy to understand. At the very least Barbra should return the excess contributions made from multiple businesses owned by Gersen just to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest. This isn't rocket science, and it is bizarre that Williamson continues to lash out at others for her own mistake in accepting these highly questionable contributions. Barbra is just being stubborn and arrogant, and Katie is just being... well, Katie.
BK - I live over in Camarillo so the only major difference I see is the landfill issue. It was your attacks on Barbra that made me want to grab a conspiracy tin foil hat. Re-read my post. Talk about over-reacting to WMI.
I'm over-reacting to WMI? You're the one bringing them up. As far as I'm concerned they have nothing to do with this topic. You need to come up with a better conspiracy theory.
It amazing that Steve "Do Nothing" Sojka is making an issue about campaign finace reform after he takes multiple contributions from David Saperstien. Other than Mr Saperstien's contribution the other Saperstien money is just given under other names but still is David's money. I think both Sojka and Williamson violated the law and the intent of the law. Lets call it as it is both candidates were and are playing games. It time for some change on this do nothing city council!
" The mere fact that Bubba Kidd is doing a drum beat against Barbra is reason enough for me to look for the conspiracy tin hat."
I don't see WMI in this quote - it is directed towards you and you alone BK. If you insist on bringing up Waste Management into the conspiracy mix, it will be looked at by those that live in Simi. You keep bringing them up, methinks you must have or do work for them. Talk about protesting too much.
Do you really think bloggers so dumb that they won't actually read full context of your quote?
"is Barbra being singled out by people out to get her? Could it be her position on the landfill expansion? The mere fact that Bubba Kidd is doing a drum beat against Barbra is reason enough for me to look for the conspiracy tin hat."
Your the one who injected this wacky WMI conspiracy theory into the mix. It's fascinating to watch you engage in these crazy circular arguments. Sometimes I'm amazed that you can get yourself dressed in the morning.
It appears that there ARE convictions of donors that try to circumvent campaign finance limits. Click on "Follow the money!"
Williamson would be wise to return all monies connected with Saperstein, Gerson, Colton Lee, the Vineyards, Hummingbird Ranch and Dean Kunicki. She should then apologize to Simi Valley, and hope and pray that she has separated herself enough from those donors to still maintain some ability to govern without the shadow of compromised integrity.
Having been a candidate for many years and a BANKER, Williamson cannot claim ignorance of the law (which is no excuse anyway) or lack of knowledge of sources of funds.
Dear BK - good thing I didn't say the words Jim Dantona or you would really be having a hissy fit.
Actually Katie, I don't have a problem with Jim Dantona. I just like to torment some of his far-left supporters.
Gee, it looks like many other people in this community have concerns over Williamson's questionable campaign contributions. I still say she should just give the money back so we can all move on. Is it really too much to ask?
I agree with BK. Giving back the money could be the simplest way to bring this matter to a close once and for all.
Illegal contributions-
Funny that's news to Marc O'Hara, (get the spelling right)Where's your inside connection. Is the check in the mail?
I agree Barbra should give back the money from Gerson and Company and also from Saperstein and his bundled family donations.
It saddens me to see that a few outsiders that do not live in Simi Valley influence who represents us.
If I'm not mistaken, Paul Miller and Steve S. have both given back the Saperstein and Kunicki money. So Barbra should also give it back? What about the other council members - should they also give it back?
Kunicki is also on the Colton Lee website - does the same logic apply to Colton Lee and the fellow who owns the Vineyard?
This is pretty messy!
Katie, barbra should give back the money, not because everyone else is doing it, but because accepting the money in the first place was wrong. No conspiracy, no discussion of a cascading impact is necessary. She should just give the money back and be done with it. Doing anything otherwise is just being needlessly stubborn.
How about answering the questions Katie poses?
Are you upset by the money from the Sapersteins going to other candidates too? Should all local candidates give back bundled money from them?
I'm pretty sure her questions weren't directed at me because I know very little about Dean Kunicki. And I'm actually not upset about any of the contributions, I just agree with BK that giving back the money is the simplest way to bring the matter to a close.
Has anyone heard if the driver who crashed the golf course fence at Stearns was coming from Candlelight??? Just a thought after the hit and run!
When was that accident? The police report Brad brought to the city council meeting had pages detailing police calls involving fights, public drunkenness, accidents, and problems with neighbors.
I saw the fence on Sunday at about 5 pm so sometime before that.
Do you have any pictures of the fence?
No sorry, we were on our way to get a Christmas tree and no way I could have got the family to stop.