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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

May 5, 2005

Pardee fund dwarfs rivals in home issue

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In financial disclosure reports released this week, Citizens for Livermore Trails reported raising $650,250 cash and another $162,210 in nonmonetary contributions from January through March.

That dwarfs the $11,500 in campaign contributions reported by the opposition group Friends of Livermore, although its campaign against the November ballot measure is just getting going.

Almost all donations on behalf of the Pardee homes project, except for a total of $250 from individuals in the Livermore area, came from Pardee itself.

Company representative Carlene Matchniff said the high level of spending reflects Pardee's initial hope for an earlier special election in June and the need to counter claims from expected well-funded opposition.

"This campaign will be a very costly effort, but we believe that it is important to reach out to every voter so that all Livermore residents can truly understand the balanced plan we have proposed for Livermore Trails," Matchniff said.

November's election date was set by the City Council, a majority of which has concerns about the project.

Voter approval is required for any urban development north of city limits, thanks to Alameda County's Measure D open-space initiative approved by county voters in 2000, and Livermore's more recent urban-growth boundary for city annexations.

The largest expenditure by the pro-Pardee campaign was $227,422 to the San Francisco-based political consulting firm of Barnes, Mosher, Whitehurst, Lauter & Partners, which has sent out three direct mail pieces to registered voters.

Other major payments included $42,235 to Olson Consulting, which managed the signature-gathering drive to qualify the initiative for the ballot. Public Affairs Associates of South San Francisco received $44,348 and Southwest Strategies LLC of San Diego was paid $58,601 for campaign consulting. Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates of Santa Monica was paid $28,500 for voter research services.

The report from the opposition group, Friends of Livermore, shows all but one of 11 cash donors as of March 31 are Livermore residents. The biggest contributor was resident Jean King, who gave $5,000; followed by Bob Baltzer, who gave $2,000.

"If we weren't worried, we wouldn't be organizing against it," Baltzer said. He said most Livermore residents oppose developing lands outside the new urban growth boundary to the north, "When you hit any group of voters hard enough, without being countered, anything can happen."

Though Pardee is offering a 130-acre sports park, land for an elementary and 750 acres of open space, "It's not worth the price we'd pay," Baltzer said, warning that voter approval could trigger other North Livermore development proposals.

Though Friends of Livermore has hired Staton & Hughes, a high-profile political consulting firm, "We have not paid anyone yet" and expenditures will therefore not be reported until later, said campaign treasurer Clay Widmayer.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Club says it intends only to organize its members against the project, but Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area environmental group, says its involvement could well be monetary.

"It's an important campaign for us, so we'll be dedicating resources to it," said David Reid of Greenbelt Alliance. "We'll be filing our own separate reports on what we spend."

Bonita Brewer covers the city of Livermore. Reach her at 925-847-2120 or bbrewer@cctimes.com.

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