HUNTINGTON BEACH : Mailer Controversy Stirs Council Race

Incumbent council members Jim Silva and Don MacAllister and Planning Commissioner Susie Newman have raised the most campaign money in the 14-person City Council race, according to their latest financial disclosure statements.

Silva, MacAllister and Newman have also benefited from a controversial mailer sent on their behalf by a Sacramento-based organization whose donors include developers in Huntington Beach. Citizens for Responsible Representation spent $12,000 for mailers on behalf of MacAllister, $6,000 for mailers on behalf of Silva and $6,000 for mailers on behalf of Newman, according to documents on file in Sacramento.

The mailers did not have information on them showing who sponsored and paid for them. Since state law requires such information on campaign material, several residents in Huntington Beach have charged that the mailers were illegal.

Newman, Silva and MacAllister have said the mailers were sent without their knowledge.

Citizens for Responsible Representation is based in Sacramento, and its treasurer there is William Saracino. In a telephone interview, Saracino said the organization “is an independent committee that is involved in local races.”

Saracino added, “We get involved based on whom we’re interested in, and the basis of our interest is which candidates we think support a climate for business and jobs.” Saracino said Silva, Newman and MacAllister are among “dozens and dozens” of candidates the committee is backing in California cities.

Documents on file in Sacramento show that Citizens for Responsible Representation received a $50,000 donation on Aug. 18 from Chevron. A Chevron subsidiary, formerly called the Huntington Beach Co., is the biggest development company in the city.

Several candidates in the race have accused Chevron/Huntington Beach Co. of being “the power behind the throne” in Huntington Beach politics.

Money spent by Citizens for Responsible Representation for Silva, Newman and MacAllister does not show on those candidates’ campaign-spending reports because the Sacramento committee acted independently of the three.

Not including the Citizens for Responsible Representation money spent on their behalf, Silva’s campaign so far has raised $31,661; Newman’s has raised $47,945 (including a $22,500 loan she made to her own campaign); and MacAllister’s committee has raised $35,496.

Former Planning Commissioner Mark Porter has raised $17,584; incumbent Planning Commissioner Victor Leipzig has raised $15,096; and Dave Sullivan, president of the citizens group Huntington Beach Tomorrow, has raised $11,787. Those three candidates are running as a slate endorsed by environmental groups, including the Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

Other candidates in the council race have raised less than $5,000.

William Moore Thompson has raised $2,344, and George Arnold has reported a campaign war chest of $420 in the latest round of state-required campaign-spending reports.

All of the other candidates for City Council have reported that they will raise and spend less than $1,000 each in the campaign. Those candidates are Brian McAneny, Daniel A. Traxler, Bob Stuart, Scott A. Borzi, Thomas W. Hyatt and Vida L. Martin.

In the city clerk’s race, incumbent Connie Brockway has raised $7,999 (including a $1,250 loan), and her opponent, Mark Miller, has raised $2,927.