A Case of Political Excess

If you ever wondered about the power of campaign contributions and the political clout they buy, take a look at the case of the land developer, Sandcastle Partners of Orange, and the Placentia Unified School District. It will give you an idea of how handy political connections can be.

For example, if you became embroiled in a dispute with the school district, as the land development firm has been since 1986, how many state legislators do you think you could get to call the school district on your behalf? Sandcastle Partners was able to induce state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim), Assemblyman John Lewis (R-Orange) and an aide to state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) to contact the district about the dispute over the size of the fee the developer was obligated to pay the school district in connection with the construction of an apartment complex in Placentia.

But even more important than phone calls, the builder had enough political connections to get a bill introduced by Assemblyman Dennis Brown (R-Signal Hill), whose district includes neither Placentia nor Orange. The bill seeks to force the school district to return more than $300,000 in fees levied to pay for more school buildings, but paid under protest by the developer.

Two other points make that bill noteworthy. One is that the bill is the most special kind of legislation--it affects absolutely no one but Sandcastle Partners. No other developer or school district would come under its provisions. And Brown, consistently, is a legislator who introduces the fewest number of bills each year. The bill is still pending.

The record shows that campaign contributions from companies or people connected in some way with Sandcastle Partners were made to Campbell, Seymour, Lewis and Brown. Politicians steadfastly deny that such contributions buy votes or influence. Most, however, will concede that the contributions do buy access. In the Sandcastle Partners case, excess would be more descriptive.