NORTHWEST : Candidates React to Koll Disclosure

Supervisorial candidate Haydee Tillotson reacted mildly Tuesday to news that her campaign co-chairman has advised the Koll Real Estate Group to split its support between her and an opponent. But a third candidate in the 2nd District supervisorial race cried foul over the disclosure.

Tillotson downplayed the significance of a confidential April 13 memo from attorney John P. Erskine to two top Koll officials, which, according to news reports, advised them to divide $40,000 in corporate fund raising between Tillotson and Jim Silva, a Huntington Beach city councilman who is one of her opponents.

Tillotson, a Huntington Beach property manager, said she had not seen the memo, had spoken only briefly with Erskine about it and had not pressed him on it because he cited attorney-client privilege with the Koll company.

An attorney with Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott, Erskine works as a land-use lawyer for Koll, trying to help the company obtain county approval for its controversial proposal to build 4,286 homes near the Bolsa Chica wetlands.

Erskine could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But Tillotson described him as a longtime friend and said she had no plans to replace him as unpaid co-chairman of her campaign.

Tillotson’s campaign manager, Chris St. Hillaire, speculated that Erskine may actually have been working on Tillotson’s behalf.

“For all we know, Koll could have been raising that entire amount for Jim Silva until John asked that they split the money between us,” St. Hillaire said. “We just don’t know.”

Koll officials declined to release the memo, but said it contained advice on contributions to all three candidates.

“It did not advise splitting $40,000 between these two candidates,” said Lucy Dunn, a Koll senior vice president. “It was a political review and it talked about support for three candidates,” whom Dunn identified as Tillotson, Silva and Huntington Beach Mayor Linda Moulton-Patterson.

The three are considered the top contenders to replace retiring Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder in the primary scheduled for June 7.

Dunn said, however, that Moulton-Patterson, who is a member of the California Coastal Commission, is prohibited by a 1983 state law from accepting more than $250 total from employees of any company affected by the commission’s decisions.

“Obviously, we can’t raise money for Linda and candidates Tillotson and Silva were both asking for our support,” Dunn said. “There is nothing sinister about this. It’s much ado about nothing, frankly.”

But Moulton-Patterson responded angrily to news of the memo Tuesday and said she believed it was aimed at derailing her candidacy. She has been a frequent critic of Koll for its political strategy to develop the Bolsa Chica area.

Moulton-Patterson contends that the city of Huntington Beach, not the county, should have remained the lead agency in decisions regarding the property.

“I’m disgusted by this but not surprised, because I expected all along that (Koll) would do anything they could to stop me from becoming the next supervisor and get a candidate in there who will fully support their project,” Moulton-Patterson said.

Silva said that he has so far received about $4,000 from individuals associated with Koll but “I haven’t seen any $20,000.”

“We’re out there trying to raise money right now and frankly, I don’t think any of the five candidates in this race would turn the money down,” Silva said.