Political action committee goes dormant
A once-powerful political action committee that funneled thousands of dollars of developer cash into the campaign accounts of City Council and water district candidates has quietly closed up shop.
Past and Present Elected Officials Representing Yorba Linda was run by Mike Beverage, a councilman from 1982 to 1986 and Yorba Linda Water District director since 1992, who recently filed the PAC’s termination notice at the City Clerk’s office.
Beverage closed the PAC’s bank account and moved the $330 balance to his own campaign committee, indicating he’ll seek a fifth water board term later this year.
The PAC’s 1996 Statement of Organization noted that “surplus funds” not spent supporting or opposing candidates and ballot measures would be donated “to local charities.”
Beverage’s PAC took in $45,847 during three election cycles, with $40,397 coming from developers and their subcontractors, such as Upper K-Shapell Joint Venture, Shell-Toll and Toll Brothers, each well-known for the many homes they’ve built in Yorba Linda.
The PAC’s first contributions came from then-sitting water board directors—Beverage, Paul Armstrong, Sterling Fox, Art Korn and Carl Scanlin—who contributed $500 each. Then-councilman John Gullixson put up $200 and city trash contractor Taormina Industries $500.
But after the PAC’s first year, the big money came from developers and another developer-funded PAC, the Costa Mesa-based Committee for Improved Public Policy, run by Lyle Overby, a consultant to Shapell Industries.
Council members whose campaigns were aided by the PAC included Allen Castellano, Mike Duvall, John Gullixson, Barbara Kiley, Dan Welch and Gene Wisner. Developers and building-related interests made additional contributions directly to the candidates.
The PAC also opposed a ballot measure that would have halted an Imperial Highway improvement project and supported water board candidates Beverage, Korn and John Summerfield as well as Brett Barbe for the Municipal Water District of Orange County.
Even former Sheriff Mike Carona received a $500 campaign donation, and the PAC paid the $5,987 cost of a controversial endorsement letter sent to residents by the Brea Police Association.
The PAC’s most successful strategy in support of preferred candidates was to buy full-page Yorba Linda Star advertisements and send bulk mail brochures to residents listing endorsements from dozens of current and former officials representing Yorba Linda.
The ads and mailers used a “Paid for by Past and Present Elected Officials Representing Yorba Linda” tagline, although very few of the officials listed actually contributed cash, with most of the funding coming from developers whose names weren’t mentioned.
Past and Present Elected Officials Representing Yorba Linda was run by Mike Beverage, a councilman from 1982 to 1986 and Yorba Linda Water District director since 1992, who recently filed the PAC’s termination notice at the City Clerk’s office.
Beverage closed the PAC’s bank account and moved the $330 balance to his own campaign committee, indicating he’ll seek a fifth water board term later this year.
The PAC’s 1996 Statement of Organization noted that “surplus funds” not spent supporting or opposing candidates and ballot measures would be donated “to local charities.”
Beverage’s PAC took in $45,847 during three election cycles, with $40,397 coming from developers and their subcontractors, such as Upper K-Shapell Joint Venture, Shell-Toll and Toll Brothers, each well-known for the many homes they’ve built in Yorba Linda.
The PAC’s first contributions came from then-sitting water board directors—Beverage, Paul Armstrong, Sterling Fox, Art Korn and Carl Scanlin—who contributed $500 each. Then-councilman John Gullixson put up $200 and city trash contractor Taormina Industries $500.
But after the PAC’s first year, the big money came from developers and another developer-funded PAC, the Costa Mesa-based Committee for Improved Public Policy, run by Lyle Overby, a consultant to Shapell Industries.
Council members whose campaigns were aided by the PAC included Allen Castellano, Mike Duvall, John Gullixson, Barbara Kiley, Dan Welch and Gene Wisner. Developers and building-related interests made additional contributions directly to the candidates.
The PAC also opposed a ballot measure that would have halted an Imperial Highway improvement project and supported water board candidates Beverage, Korn and John Summerfield as well as Brett Barbe for the Municipal Water District of Orange County.
Even former Sheriff Mike Carona received a $500 campaign donation, and the PAC paid the $5,987 cost of a controversial endorsement letter sent to residents by the Brea Police Association.
The PAC’s most successful strategy in support of preferred candidates was to buy full-page Yorba Linda Star advertisements and send bulk mail brochures to residents listing endorsements from dozens of current and former officials representing Yorba Linda.
The ads and mailers used a “Paid for by Past and Present Elected Officials Representing Yorba Linda” tagline, although very few of the officials listed actually contributed cash, with most of the funding coming from developers whose names weren’t mentioned.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
<< Home