Irvine Co. Will Cut Back Political Spending by 25%
Mike Stockstill, the Irvine Co.’s corporate affairs director, was one of the lucky ones Thursday. He still has a job.
In the wake of the company’s announcement that it is laying off 240 workers as part of a corporate restructuring, some politicians may not feel as secure. That is because Stockstill disclosed Thursday that the company--one of the most politically influential in the county and the state--will be cutting its campaign contributions by about 25% over the next 12 months.
The giant real estate developer was the top corporate contributor to California legislators and constitutional officers in 1985, according to state figures.
Although it was a non-election year, the Newport Beach-based firm, which owns one-sixth of the land in the county, contributed $182,029 to Sacramento politicians.
The company gave another $134,000 to political parties, independent committees and local candidates in 1985, while $28,792 went to U.S. Senate and House candidates.
And the company spent yet another $225,739 in 1985 on wining and dining influential capital staffers and employing a small army of lobbyists.
“I can’t give you a precise dollar figure, but I would estimate that we would be cutting back by about a fourth (on political spending),” Stockstill said.
One factor in the reduced spending will be the fewer number of workers available to contribute to the Irvine Co. Employees’ Political Action Committee (ICEPAC), which raises money for federal races.
However, most observers said the firm’s decision to reduce campaign contributions will hardly be noticed in the political arena.
Supervisor Bruce Nestande, the GOP nominee for secretary of state and a major beneficiary of Irvine Co. campaign contributions in past years, said the cutbacks “might not be a negative thing” because it could help focus attention on how badly “things have gotten out of hand” in Sacramento, with “legislators holding up bills for campaign contributions.”
And John Seymour of Anaheim, the state Senate GOP’s caucus chairman, said, “I think we’ll survive.”
Seymour pointed out that despite the company’s ability to nurture such politicians as U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ed Zschau before they become household names, there are others who fare just as well without the company’s support.
“It’s ironical that the company can do so well with a U.S. senator but can’t win a council seat in Irvine, the city it created,” Seymour quipped.
Seymour was referring to recent Irvine city elections in which candidates favored by the company lost to slow-growth advocates.
The mood was somber at the Irvine Co. as 240 employees who are being laid off prepared to seek jobs. (Business, Page 1.)
