| PRESS CONFERENCE: Oct. 8, 2014 |
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CONTACT: Mary Marlow |
| TIME: 10 AM |
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TELEPHONE: 310.890.1283 |
| PLACE: City Hall Steps |
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EMAIL: m.marlow@verizon.net |
Santa Monica Transparency Project to File Complaint -- Mayor O’Connor Repeatedly Illegally Accepted Political Contributions
After voting for Large Developers’ Projects.
The Santa Monica Transparency Project today filed a Complaint with the City against Mayor Pam O’Connor alleging 24 violations of Santa Monica law relating to campaign contributions she received from major developers after voting in favor of their large projects. These serious allegations relate to batched contributions Pam O’Connor accepted from those who own or are officers of three of the biggest developers in Santa Monica—Hines, Macerich and Century West.
Pam O’Connor’s pattern of illegally accepting contributions continues, as alleged in these Complaints. Just two days ago, her most recent Disclosure Statement was filed, containing proof of her accepting a second wave of batched contributions from Century West owners and top executives
after she voted to approve their downtown development, in further violation of Santa Monica law.
Penalties under Santa Monica law can be both civil and criminal, and can include an order for her to stop taking prohibited donations and payment to the City of up to 5 times the amount of the illegal contributions, over $22,000. The detailed Complaint covers 16 single-spaced pages, and has an Appendix of Key Dates and 64 exhibits. It calls for a thorough and impartial investigation into all of Mayor O’Connor’s campaign contributions under Santa Monica law and for full and appropriate remedies to be imposed—serious remedies for serious, on going violations.
"The repeated campaign contributions by developers with projects before the City has a corrosive impact on our governing process and residents’ confidence that decisions are being made for their benefit,” said Mary Marlow, Chair of the Transparency Project. “Over the past few years developer money has overwhelmed our elections. Now, it appears that Pam O’Connor has not only violated her ethical responsibilities by taking developer money
before she voted on their project, but also Santa Monica law by accepting money
after she voted in favor of their project. We’ve got to put a stop to this now."
Earlier this year, the Transparency Project asked Mayor O’Connor to recuse herself from voting on the massive Hines Bergamot project because she had accepted campaign contributions from numerous Hines officials to pay off her previous campaign debt. She refused, saying it is only illegal to take a donation
after she votes for a project, not
before. As it turns out, Mayor O’Connor has accepted donations from Hines
after she had voted for an earlier Hines project, the Lantana Hines project. It is alleged that these violated Santa Monica law embodied in the Oaks Initiative. Mayor O’Connor has accepted money from Hines both
before and after she voted to approve their projects.
Similarly, Mayor O’Connor has accepted campaign contributions from top executives of Macerich, the owner and developer of Santa Monica Place as well as other properties, both
before and after she voted to approve its projects in further violation of Santa Monica law.
The Complaint also alleges that Pam O’Connor received batched campaign contributions in 2013 from an owner and officers of Century West soon after voting for one of their downtown projects, and now again in 2014 as she runs for re-election. The Complaint alleges that in filling out her campaign disclosure statements, she then misleadingly identified the company various Century West donors were affiliated with, making the donations Oaks opaque, at best.
Under Article XXII of our City Charter -- The Oaks Initiative – a council member is absolutely prohibited from accepting donations from anyone, including owners and executives of developers, after the council member has voted to confer a benefit on them. The Oaks Initiative was approved by Santa Monica voters in 2000.
The Transparency Project is an all-volunteer group of Santa Monica residents concerned about openness and accountability in our City government and politics. We believe openness and accountability are the cornerstone of a healthy democracy. The Transparency Project formed in 2010 after a developer funded PAC refused to disclose contributor information to Santa Monica voters.
