Monday, November 1, 2010

Perata Group Uses A’s Money to Attack Quan

Politics / People / Sports Robert Gammon — Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 11:14 AM

A political group with close ties to Don Perata used $25,000 in donations from the owners of the Oakland A’s to help fund two last-minute, hit-pieces against Councilwoman Jean Quan, campaign finance records show. A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher, who desparately want to move their team to San Jose, made the large donations to the Perata group after the ex-senator said that the A’s planned relocation to San Jose was a done deal. Quan and Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, who are both running for mayor of Oakland against Perata, have advocated strongly for keeping the A’s from leaving.

The two latest hit-pieces from the Perata group, Coalition for a Safer California, slam Quan for the Oakland police layoffs and blame her for past financial problems in the Oakland public schools and for the city’s current financial troubles. As the Express noted Friday, the mailers do not mention Perata’s close allies, Councilmembers Jane Brunner and Ignacio De La Fuente, even though they were the driving forces behind the police layoffs — not Quan.

In addition, Brunner has been president of the city council for the past two years when the city’s finances have worsened. And both she and De La Fuente led negotiations with city unions over the years that resulted in unsustainable city employee compensation, benefits, and pension packages.

Finally, the mailers also don’t mention Perata’s close ally and former top aide, Kerry Hamill, who was president of the Oakland school board in 2002, when the district discovered it had overspent its budget. In other words, if Quan’s record makes her unfit for office, as the Perata group contends, then the ex-senators closest political allies are unfit as well.

Perata has maintained that he has not coordinated with Coalition for a Safer California. Doing so would be illegal. But the group is run by Perata’s longtime friend, Paul Kinney, and is financed by many of the ex-senator’s longtime best donors and friends, along with his primary employer — the California prison guard’s union. A’s owners Wolff and Fisher donated $25,000 to Coalition for a Safer California last month. Wolff said his contribution had nothing to do with Perata’s stance on letting the A’s leave Oakland.

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The rotton core of modern politics is the quid pro quo - understood. That is, an understanding that is never talked about explicitly, that those who contribute to the effort will be rewarded richly when their candidate takes the seat of power.

Oakland is particularly susceptible to being abused in this manner, as there is no strong movement for 'good governance' or ethical government. Even local bloggers can be bought off with access to a speech at the local rotary club and hopes for some future return, it would seem; otherwise I really can't explain those who in Oakland so utterly abandon any fundamental belief in clean government principles and practice. The price of ideals in Oakland, like a foreclosure home, is very cheap these days.

Common Cause statistics on California say that if you outspend your opponent by 5x, your odds of wining are 32 to 1! Please ponder that as you make your decision. 32 to 1, whichn that means by 'raising' 5x the money, you become 97% assured of victory. Only the most egregious of ethical violators are likely to fail to win if their funding is sufficient. Hopefully, Perata has reached that tipping point of excess, and more Oakland voters are paying attention than he is obviously counting on. I put the idea of 'raising' in quotes because the effort required is so minimal if your basic ideals and the public treasure and contracts you will control are essentially for sale, as I believe that have been in Oakland, and are more than ever in this election.

Here's a little interesting info on the history of such corruption as it developed from the 1970s to the 1990s. If you are interested in making a stand againt such corruption in Oakland, please contact ethicsforoakland@gmail.com

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Politica…