Nestande Sues Over County’s Donation Law

Hampered by fund-raising difficulties in his campaign for lieutenant governor, Supervisor Bruce Nestande and several supporters filed suit against other supervisors Friday in a bid to exempt Nestande and his campaign donors from Orange County’s tough restrictions on political contributions.

Superior Court Commissioner Thomas Keenan on Friday ordered county officials to appear before him on Sept. 19 to show why they should not be prevented from applying the county campaign ordinance to Nestande’s race for the 1986 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

“We believe that the county law is preempted by the laws that govern candidates for statewide office,” said Gary Proctor, attorney for Nestande, and four of Nestande’s supporters--former GOP County Chairman Lois Lundberg, Republican Party activist Stella Sandoval and businessmen Roger Slates and John Rau. All have been donors to Nestande’s previous campaigns for public office.

Proctor said Nestande has been unconstitutionally hampered by the county law in his efforts to raise money for the statewide contest. Under the local ordinance, he explained, donors cannot give more than $1,534 during any 48-month period to an individual board member without disclosing all of their business ties. Nestande, in turn, would be disqualified from voting on any matters brought before the board by so-called “major donors” who exceeded the limit, he said.

Proctor added that there are many other potential donors “who never come into Orange County and who simply don’t want the county to list them as major donors under the local ordinance.”

Nestande said his lawsuit raises “an issue of equity.”

“Everybody runs from their political base,” he said in an interview. “I’ve worked hard to develop my political base in Orange County, but under the current county law, I can’t use it to run statewide. That’s unfair. Everyone else in the race can run from their political base, and they’re using state law to do it.”

Nestande said he has raised about $60,000 so far, about $30,000 of which came by way of a loan from his supervisorial campaign committee to his statewide effort. He said he has about $10,000 in the bank, adding: “We’re only just beginning our major fund-raising effort right now.”

The official acknowledged that the success of his court action would give him some voting privileges other supervisors do not have.

“That’s one of the deficiencies in the system,” he said. “There are always counterarguments and trade-offs, and that’s what we’re in court to try to resolve.”

‘TIN CUP’ Law

The controversy focuses on the board’s adoption in 1978 of the so-called “TIN CUP” (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) ordinance. County Counsel Adrian Kuyper has interpreted the law to apply to county officials who seek statewide office because it refers to campaigns generally and does not specify which campaigns are included or which are exempt.

In their lawsuit, Rau, Lundberg and Slates state they desire to make contributions to Nestande’s lieutenant governor campaign in excess of $1,534--but only if the county ordinance does not apply to such contributions.

According to Proctor, Rau signed an affidavit declaring that he would not make a contribution above $1,534 because, under the county law, he would be “effectively prevented from doing business with other persons and firms” that did not make such contributions and would object to Rau becoming classified as a “major campaign contributor.”

Proctor explained that, under the county ordinance, Rau’s contributions could adversely affect his partners, since Nestande would be automatically disqualified from voting on issues that he or his business associates bring before the board.

Republican Possibilities

Nestande declared his candidacy on June 4. Former Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, Assemblyman Don A. Sebastiani (R-Sonoma) and state Sen. H.L. Richardson (R-Glendora) have said they may enter the GOP primary election contest.

Proctor, who also serves as Nestande’s appointee to the Orange County Airport Commission, acknowledged that a court order exempting Nestande from county campaign laws would allow him to cast votes on issues that his major donors bring before the board----while other supervisors would have to continue disqualifying themselves from voting in similar circumstances.

“Unfortunately, that’s the case unless the court fashions some kind of remedy,” Proctor said.