Paycheck Letter : Builders May Have Violated Election Law

San Diego County’s building industry may have violated state election laws last fall when it tried to gain political support from workers whose livelihood depends on growth.

As part of the industry’s expanded role in local campaigns, the former president of the Building Industry Assn. asked a group of industry executives to enclose a letter and a list of builder-endorsed candidates with their employees’ paychecks just before Election Day. The idea was to tell workers that their jobs might be in danger if candidates who favored controls on growth were elected to local office.

“Rarely has our industry been faced with as many local elections as it is this November,” said a letter the builders were asked to send along to their workers. “The sentiment to slow down or stop growth has never been stronger than it is today. Your job is at stake! We urge you in the strongest terms to exercise your right to vote.”

Along with that letter was a list of nearly 100 candidates for city councils, school boards and water district boards across the county who had been endorsed by the Building Industry Assn.’s political action committee.

But state election law states clearly that it is illegal to include such material with an employee’s paycheck.

The law states that it is a misdemeanor to enclose pay in an envelope “in which there is written or printed the name of any candidate or any political mottoes, devices, or arguments containing threats, express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opinion or actions of the employees.”

Bobby G. Glaser, an attorney and political consultant active in the environmental movement, has asked the county district attorney’s office to investigate. Glaser said he hopes to obtain a ruling against the future use of such tactics by the industry.

“I’m hoping the investigation will go forward into clearing up what happened in the last election,” Glaser said. “At least everybody will become aware very quickly that this is not something anybody can do. Whether it be the construction industry or any other trade or corporation, they cannot put literature in pay envelopes and tell them how to vote.

“It’s an unfair tactic in that it violates the rights of employees. They have a right to a work place free from any type of coercion.”

Jean Andrews, the industry’s political consultant, confirmed that at least 40 firms were asked to give the letter and endorsement list to their employees. Andrews has said the industry hoped to reach thousands of workers through their employers, but she said Monday she did not know how many companies followed through with the plan.

Dennis Russell, a builder and past president of the BIA, was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.

“If it’s OK to do, we’ll do it again,” Andrews said. “If not, we’ll abide by the election code.”

Andrews said the association could find other ways to reach the workers, such as mailing literature directly to their homes rather than going through employers.

“There were several things used regarding endorsements, and that was one of them,” she said.

Andrews said she would review Glaser’s allegation with the industry association’s attorney, William Kronberger. In a brief interview with The Times, Kronberger said he wasn’t aware of the tactic and wasn’t familiar with the section of the elections code that Glaser said applies in this case.

But Kronberger said he would welcome an investigation by the district attorney if such a probe would clear up the matter.

“If there’s any question at all, then that would be appropriate and nice to know what the D.A. has to say about it. Election law is all over the codes, and sometimes it can be very difficult to interpret.”

The district attorney’s office was closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day, and prosecutors could not be reached for comment.