To put the story below in layman’s terms, Pombo, knowing in September he would have a tough race for reelection, still put $25,000 from his RichPAC into the prodevelopment Tracy mayoral candidate, Vice Mayor Brent Ives, running against Celeste Garamendi, the slow-growth candidate, who is John Garamendi’s sister. John, now state insurance commissioner, is running for lieutenant governor.
Maybe separate appearances by both the President and his wife trump a slow-growth Garamendi in the district. Maybe Mrs. Bush will provide a bumpito to get Pombo back even with the Democrat, McNerney, a man whose name people have spelling correctly.
Pombo’s supporters include the Tsakapoulos family, who have development interests in Tracy that include Tracy Hills, the proposed project on Corral Hollow Road that will adjoin UC Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s proposed level 4 biowarfare laboratory. Many Democrats backing Phil Angelides, Angelo Tsakapoulos’ protégée, believe that publicity during the Primary about the millions Tsakapoulos dumped into Angelides’ campaign got him the nomination and destroyed his chance for election.
Badlands has consistently held that Pombo is a straight shooter who acts forthrightly on his fundamental political belief: that whatever is good for the Pombo Family real estate interests is good for America and the World. In this contribution to the Tracy mayoral campaign, Pombo was being absolutely consistent. The Number One American value in Pombo’s political philosophy is promoting growth that increases property values of land around Tracy that is owned by the Pombo Family. Some may find this a narrow political philosophy, but it has always been evident that RichPAC himself has held it deeply and sincerely and is even willing to sacrifice campaign cash to protect Pombo Family real estate interests.
Maybe, Mrs. Bush's appearance will make up the difference. Anyway, if an incumbent in San Joaquin County can’t find a way to steal at least two percent of the vote, he does not deserve to be an incumbent in San Joaquin County.
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Oct. 31, 2006
Modesto Bee
Cash for ads to beat Tracy mayor hopeful
http://www.modbee.com/2006/election/story/12957342p
Robin Hindery (AP)
TRACY — Rep. Richard Pombo has contributed $25,000 from his campaign fund to defeat a Tracy mayoral candidate who favors a slower approach to development. Pombo, who has extensive land holdings in the area, is a longtime proponent of development there. The seven-term Republican's donation is part of a larger effort by prodevelopment groups to protect their interests in the rapidly growing city. Tracy's population has more than doubled since 1990. The city emerged from its agricultural past to become a haven for Bay Area transplants searching for affordable housing. Pombo's donation came from his Washington, D.C.-based political action committee, Rich PAC. On Sept. 25, he transferred $25,000 to the independent Hat PAC of Sacramento to help fund television and radio advertising against Democratic mayoral candidate Celeste Garamendi. Garamendi is an outspoken champion of slow growth in Tracy who helped lead a successful fight in 2000 to pass a law that slashed planned residential development by half. Her family's connection to Pombo stretches back to 1992, when he narrowly defeated her sister-in-law, Patti Garamendi, in his first bid for Congress. Pombo's campaign did not return calls Monday. Garamendi's opponent, Vice Mayor Brent Ives, has pushed for a deal to let two development companies skirt the slow-growth law in exchange for at least $40 million for new public sports facilities. The companies would be allowed to build as many as 9,700homes, starting in 2012 when Tracy's cap on new building ends. One of the developers, AKT Development, is owned by the influential Tsakopoulos family, whose members also have donated a few thousand dollars to Pombo's re-election campaign this year. Garamendi said the unprecedented $25,000 donation is allowing special-interest groups to sway the election. "The PACs are laundering money in order to provide a shield to development interests," she said. "This is a new low, bringing the corruption of Washington to our small community of Tracy." She said she pledged not to accept any money from political action committees. Hat PAC's contributors include Manteca-based AKF Development and Northern California grocery store operator PAQ Inc. Those groups have helped Hat PAC spend nearly $58,000 on anti-Garamendi advertising over a one-week period starting Oct. 11, according to the committee's campaign finance records.