Outsiders Weigh In on Orange Recall Bid

Donors from outside the Orange Unified School District have accounted for about half of the funds raised by each side in the June 26 recall election, campaign records show.

A campaign statement filed Thursday by Stop the Union Takeover--formed to back three board members facing recall--listed contributions from more than 75 groups and individuals living outside the district. Outside donors accounted for about $27,250 of the $52,578 cash contributions received by the group.

The statement filed by the Orange Recall Committee showed $55,614 in cash contributions since the campaign began last year, of which $23,840 came from the California Teachers Assn., other local teachers unions and one labor union. Of the 51 individual contributors, 15 were not Orange teachers or district residents.

School board candidate Melissa Taylor Smith reported receiving $20,847 in contributions through June. Kathy Moffat raised $15,908 in cash during the same period. Smith and Moffat are running for the seats of two of the trustees facing recall.

The local election, normally a nonpartisan event, took a stridently partisan turn in April, when Orange County Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes sent a letter to Republican voters countywide asking for $100 contributions to stop “the Democrats and union bosses.”

Fuentes’ letter described the recall targets--Maureen Aschoff, Martin Jacobson and Linda Davis--as “three good Republican board members” and “good conservatives.” The Lincoln Club, a political group usually identified with Republican causes, contributed $5,000 five days after Fuentes’ letter was written.

In addition, Stop the Union Takeover received $1,000 from the Garden Grove-based PRO-LIFE, an antiabortion group. Republican stalwart and former state Sen. Rob Hurtt, who has close ties to the Christian right, gave $5,000. James A. Bowles, the school district’s attorney, contributed $1,000.

County Treasurer John M.W. Moorlach gave $200. “I put my money where my mouth is,” he said. “The three board members have done a very good job based on the financial situation they inherited.”

Melinda Moore, co-chairperson of the Orange Recall Committee, charged that “the Republicans have made this into a partisan race.”

“We were looking for people qualified to run a public school district. That was it. But [recall opponents] have turned it into a race about religion, abortion and politics,” Moore said. “The money received by the other side shows that they’ve injected other agendas when it’s supposed to be about education.”

Committee treasurer Patty Nance described herself as a “conservative, born-again Christian Republican.” Eight of the 10 committee members are registered Republicans, Nance said. Moore is the only Democrat, and the other member is an independent.

“Local control is a big part of the Republican Party’s philosophy. That’s what we’re trying to do here,” Nance said. “Why is the Republican Party throwing money from throughout the county, Whittier, Bellflower, Colorado and Delaware into an Orange school district election?”

Davis, designated spokesperson for the board members facing recall, responded that “there are people nationwide watching this race and who support what we’re doing.”

“We have a whole spectrum of people who have given to our campaign, including religious groups. Several of my husband’s friends and family friends have donated at our request,” Davis said. Her husband, Jeffrey R. Davis, gave $5,000 in March.

Nance described the Christian right, antiabortion groups and Republicans opposing the recall as “my circle of people.” But she now finds herself outside the political spectrum where she had been comfortably ensconced for years.

“My husband and I gave money to those causes. We supported those causes. It’s shocking to see them turn this election into an issue about unions and gays,” she said, referring to the board’s fight to stop a gay-straight student alliance club from meeting on campus.

“The only issue is about teachers leaving the district in droves because of the board,” Moore said. “There is no agenda. This is not a partisan or religious issue. It’s about the will of the community.”

Fuentes, however, insisted that Democrats and unions are behind the recall.

“The overwhelming money funding the challengers is union and Democratic money,” Fuentes said. But when asked to name the Democratic contributors, he declined.

Lincoln Club President Mike Capaldi said the group gave $5,000 simply because members believe that the trustees facing recall have done a good job.

“From our perspective, it’s not a partisan race. You’re not going to find Democrat Party money [in the election]. We supported these people in the past, and we see it as an issue of protecting good people.”

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Orange Recall Funds

More than $100,000 has been raised by the two sides in the the Orange Unified School District recall election, according to campaign finance statements filed Thursday. Major contributions made to the campaigns:

Stop the Union Takeover (Anti-recall group)

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Date Contributor Title Amount 2/9/01 Williard MacAloney Company president $2,000 3/6/01 Jeffery Davis Retired $5,000 3/19/01 Pro-life PAC of OC PAC $1,000 3/26/01 Don Evans Company president $1,000 3/26/01 Robert Tanklage Business owner $1,000 4/11/01 R. Hurtt Company president $5,000 4/18/01 Lincoln Club of O.C. PAC $5,000 4/19/01 Donna Crean Homemaker $1,000 5/11/01 James Bowles Attorney $1,000 6/4/01 Kenneth Tait Retired) $1,000 Overall total $52,578

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Orange Recall Committee (Pro-recall group)

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Date Contributor Title Amount 11/13/00 Orange Unified Ed. Assoc. PAC $10,000 10/23/00 Karl Baysinger Teacher $1,050 9/29/00 Ron Browne Retired teacher $1,000 4/2/01 Calif. Teachers Assoc. Issues PAC $10,000 2/22/01 Elizabeth Orr Retired $2,000 6/8/01 Laborer’s Int’l Union of North America Union $2,000 6/5/01 Gisela Meier Homemaker $1,000 5/30/01 Saddleback Valley Education Assoc. PAC $1,000 Overall total $55,614

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Source: Campaign statements