Sacramento City Council races attract cash from outside town
Donations always flow into Sacramento from across California to fund big, statewide political campaigns.
But for Sacramento City Hall?
More than one-third of the money given to Sacramento City Council candidates during 2009 came from outside city limits, according to a Bee analysis of the latest campaign finance figures.
Also, an overwhelming majority - 78 percent - of money collected by council hopefuls came from outside the City Council district where those candidates are running. All but two candidates collected more than half their donations from outside their districts.
Campaign finance figures for 2009 were available for 13 candidates. Four more candidates since have jumped into the race for four seats, making this year's Sacramento City Council field the most packed since 1983. The municipal election is June 8.
The biggest out-of-town donors last year were labor unions representing building trade and phone company employees. Developers with homes or businesses outside city limits - but whose work is done largely inside the city - also accounted for a big piece of the pie.
The out-of-town figures "sound off alarms," said Trent Lange, president of the California Clean Money Campaign, which is shepherding a statewide June proposition that would provide for some public financing of political campaigns.
"Why are people who aren't even constituents contributing?" he asked. "Elections are supposed to be about the needs of voters in the city."
The council candidates who collected the largest share from outside the city and their district said 2009 was all about getting their campaigns rolling financially. Some touted their big bankrolls as a sign of their campaign's strength.
They also say that the economy has made funding campaigns more difficult, forcing them to look for help in new places.
"You have to cast out a wider net than you used to," said Patrick Kennedy, a candidate for the District 5 seat, which covers Curtis Park, Oak Park and Hollywood Park. "The economy is difficult, but campaigns haven't gotten any cheaper," he said.
More than half of Kennedy's campaign war chest came from outside the city, most of it from building trade unions - especially plumbers and pipefitters - based in Fresno, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Kennedy is an attorney who has worked extensively with both labor groups and developers.
Among his donations, $25,000 came from the building trade unions. Of the roughly $96,000 he raised in 2009, 4 percent came from within his district.
Kennedy said that will change as the campaign enters the home stretch. He said that he has knocked on more than 3,500 doors in the district in recent weeks - wearing through a pair of shoes - and that campaign finance totals released soon for 2010 donations will reflect that outreach.
"I'm not concerned about not having the support in the neighborhoods, because I do have it," he said. "At the beginning, we wanted to show the strength of the campaign, and I think we did that with the fundraising."
Kennedy outraised all the other District 5 candidates combined and has the largest bankroll among challengers.
Other candidates drawing heavy support from outside city limits or their district include Councilmen Ray Tretheway and Robbie Waters, both seeking re-election.
Tretheway, who seeks a fourth term in Natomas' District 1, got 40 percent of his donations from outside the city and 73 percent from outside his district. He did, however, raise more money from within his district - more than $21,000 - than any other candidate.
Tretheway said he's been knocking on doors in his district for a year and has substantial support. He noted that his district covers the downtown railyard and the waterfront, and that many people who do business there don't live in the district but still have a vested interest in his election.
Waters, of District 7 in the Pocket and Valley Hi, raised more than $100,000 last year from city residents and businesses, by far the most of any candidate. Of the nearly $160,000 he took in, 12 percent came from his district.
Some of the figures for Tretheway and Waters aren't surprising. Interest groups such as developers and unions frequently contribute to incumbent council members, who vote on citywide decisions.
On the flip side, though, is Angelique Ashby - a community activist running for the District 1 spot - who received a higher percentage of her donations from within her district than any other candidate. She said that if she "can win in June and have the majority of my donors come from my district, imagine what I can do for my district."
Ashby had harsh words for candidates drawing most of their financial support from out of town. "What the hell do plumbers and pipefitters in L.A. have to do with voters in the city of Sacramento?" she asked.
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