Eye - DA recall vote set for March 2

DA recall vote set for March 2
By Kevin L. Hoover, Eye Editor
Feature Stories – Week of November 24, 2003

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors last week voted 3-0, with two supervisors absent, to approve the placement of the recall of District Attorney Paul Gallegos on the March 2, 2004 primary ballot.

That ballot will include incumbent Gallegos, plus one or more challengers who will be identified sometime in the next three weeks. The dealine for any challengers to file for candidacy is Dec. 18.

Adding the recall measure to the already-scheduled election averts a special election, which could have cost the county $150,000 or more.

Supervisors Bonnie Neely and Roger Rodoni were away attending a meeting of the California Association of Counties in the state capital.

The supervisors accepted the county Elections Office's certification that petitioners had submitted at least 11,138 valid signatures in support of the recall measure.

The recall item had been placed on the agenda’s consent calendar, but was pulled at the request of McKinleyville resident Daniel Pierce, who repeated widely publicized concerns about deceptive signature gathering practices on the part of hired petitioners.

Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich stated that claims of fraudulent practices have been passed along to the Secretary of State’s Elections Fraud Division, which, she said, is investigating the allegations.

The race is on

With the recall race now inevitable, the Friends of Paul Gallegos (FOPG) wasted no time airing a television advertisement portraying the district attorney as a husband and father committed to family values. The ad shows Gallegos relaxing at home with his wife and two children, thanking voters for placing him in office and reaffirming his commitment to community safety by aggressive prosecution of violent crime.

Gallegos’ opponents have cast him as a rabid environmentalist with a radical agenda who hounds the county’s largest private employer, Pacific Lumber, while plea bargaining away suspected violent criminals captured by police.

"The truth is, Paul is very concerned about children and their futures," said Patrick Riggs, spokesman for the Friends of Paul Gallegos.

Riggs said the TV ad is just the beginning. "We’ll be doing more and more outreach. We intend to use all avenues to reach out to the community with a variety of media and activities."

Dueling claims

With the race underway in earnest, the rhetoric has ramped up as well, with anti- and pro-Gallegos operatives exchanging allegations of impropriety.

Rick Brazeau of Arcata-based MTC Consulting, which manages media efforts for the Committee to Recall Paul Gallegos (CRPG), said his side doesn’t plan to go tit-for-tat with the FOPG. He said the CRPG hasn’t firmed up its advertising and outreach plans "at this early date.

Perhaps attempting to blunt accusations that CRPG is a tool of moneyed interests in the wake of recent disclosures of generous backing by the Pacific Lumber Company, Brazeau characterized the new Gallegos TV spots as costly. "He obviously has lots of money," Brazeau said.

Brazeau alleged that the pro-Gallegos Alliance for Ethical Business (AEB) and the Southern Humboldt-based Committee for Responsive Government are in violation of state election regulations for lack of financial disclosure.

He cited an opinion he said he’d obtained from the Fair Political Practices Commission, which states:

"Pursuant to section 84100, et seq. and 82031, a person must file campaign disclosure statements if the person makes expenditures of $1,000 or more for communications which expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate or the qualification, passage or defeat of a measure, or unambiguously urge a result in an election."

By not disclosing their finances, the pro-Gallegos groups illegally opposed the recall initiative, Brazeau said.

Balderdash, said Richard Salzman of AEB. "We don’t feel any need to respond to these allegations," Salzman said. "He should file a complaint with the FPPC if he’s concerned."

Salzman said his groups’ "express advocacy" - backing an elected official during a recall petition drive - is allowed until the date an election is set. Then, the rules change and disclosure is required. Now AEB will recede from the scene and the FOPG, the finances of which are detailed at right, will lead the charge to retain Gallegos.

Salzman said the pro-Gallegos forces are in scrupulous observance of state law, utilizing the advice of election law attorneys and getting opinions from the FPPC before acting. "We’re in absolute compliance with all aspects of FPPC regulations," Salzman insisted.

He turned Brazeau’s accusation around, questioning the lack of a required breakdown in advertising expenditures in a financial filing the CRPG made on Oct. 30.

He also got in a dig at Brazeau over his management of the petition drive. "I find it amusing to be lectured on FPPC regulations by a political consultant who claims not to have known that petitions he filed required direct supervision by circulators, as stated on each petition."

Salzman has been named campaign manager for the pro-Gallegos effort, which this week moves into new offices at 507 H St. in Eureka. A ribbon cutting and open house is set for Saturday, Dec. 6 during the monthly Arts Alive event.

Where Gallegos’ Friends’ funds come from

As required by law, the third quarterly statement of the Friends of Paul Gallegos declares all contributions and expenditures for the period from July 1 through September 30. A total of $8,467 received in monetary contributions during the three-month period also reflects the total received for the entire year to date. Nonmonetary contributions totaled $2,147, bringing the entire amount received for the quarter and the year to $10,614.

The following contributions were made during the third quarter of 2003:
Alan McCann-Sagles: $100
Beth Leebolt: $100
Bill Carlson, North Country Clinic Physician: $100
Brian Ferguson, Owner Ramone’s Bakery: $125
David Davis, MD, Physician: $100
Gary Abena, Owner Turquoise Mine: $100
Holly Hosterman, Holly Yashi, Inc. Jewelry Designer: $100
Ira Blatt, Attorney: $100
James Athing, Chiropractor: $200
Jared Rossman, Property Manager and Landlord: $2,000
Jody Brian, Graphic Designer: $100
John Norton, Handyman: $100, later returned in full
Joyce King, Retired: $200
Lewis Litzkey, Retired: $100
Lynne Wells, Actor: $100
Marge Baird, Retired: $100
Mark Noyes, McMurray & Sons Roofing Sales Rep.: $140
Marilyn Andrews, Retired: $200
Mark Sommer, Mainstream Media Project Executive Director: $100
Nicholas Frank, Investor and Innkeeper: $150
Patrick Riggs, Fortuna City Schools Teacher: $100
Paul Warner, Attorney: $125
Peter Nash, MD, Physician: $100
Rae Shiraishi, Black Oak Farm Farmer: $100
Richard Salzman, Artist’s Representative: $100
Ron Sinoway, Lawyer: $300
Randal Snodgrass, Land Consultant: $100
Sara Starr, Star Track Owner: $100
Susan Parks, Nurse Practitioner for Ted Humphry, MD: $100
William Bertain, Attorney: $140

Contributions of less than $100 accounted for an additional $2,987.

Miscellaneous increases to cash came from Mark Noyes’ $360 bid on cottage stay auction item, and from William Bertain’s $150 bid on family portrait auction item. An additional $150 increase to cash during this period came from unitemized increases under $100.

The following nonmonetary contributions were made during the third quarter:

Bob Goodman, Vintner: $160 in wine donation for fundraiser
Lewis Litzky, Retired: $300 in dinner for six auction item
HealthSPORT: $125 in three-month membership auction item
Nicholas Frank, Investor and Innkeeper: $360 in cottage overnight stay auction item
Hurricane Kate’s: $50 in dinner for two auction item
Elizabeth Mackay, Catchlight Photography Owner: $150 in family portrait auction item
American Hydroponics: $170 in "Baby Bloomer" auction item
Holly Yashi: $417 in jewelry auction item
Folie Douce: $150 in wine auction item
Unitemized nonmonetary contributions of less than $100 amounted to $325, bringing the total nonmonetary contributions for the quarter to $2,207. (The campaign disclosure statement erroneously reports this sum as $2,147 due to an error in addition.)
A loan of $900 was also received from Evergreen Development, Inc. and paid in full during the period.

Expenditures for the third quarter and year to date total $4,066.93.
Moore Methods, Inc. received $2,000 for polling and survey research. Artcraft Printers received $312.68 and the Peace Resource Project received $699.25 for campaign paraphernalia. The Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee received $600 for a table for 10 at the Democrat of the Year dinner. Eileen McGee was paid $170 for graphic design work for buttons, envelopes and posters and Greg Bourget received $285 for phone banks.
Unitemized payments under $100 totaled $161.35, bringing the complete cash expenditures to $4,228.28.
The group currently has no outstanding debt.


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