In a recent Letter to the Editor about the District 1 Supervisor race, the letter writer repeated a claim made by Supervisor Manu Koenig at the Lookout forum in which he mentioned that his opponent Lani Faulkner’s campaign was fueled by contributions from outside District 1.
Luckily for us voters, the Fair Political Practices Commission and the State of California require full disclosure and timely filing by candidates about who their financial backers are. A report was due and filed by Supervisor Koenig on Thursday and I found the results interesting.
Contrary to what Supervisor Koenig and the letter writer would have us believe, Koenig’s actions don’t give him credibility to accuse anybody else of being funded by outside money. For the period from Jan. 21 to Feb. 17 he raised $9,320 in contributions and $6,700 – or 71% — of that total came from outside District 1, including a $1,000 contribution from California Real Estate PAC of Los Angeles
His average contribution for the period was $423.63, for a race in which the maximum contribution is $550. These are some large-dollar contributors.
Why is this important?
First of all, it seems to indicate that Supervisor Koenig is willing to say one thing and do another. If he really believed that it was wrong for his opponent to accept large amounts of money from outside the district, why would he himself do so? And his acceptance of of money from real estate interests, raises another question: Why, in all of his biographies, does he not indicate that he practiced in Santa Cruz County as a licensed real estate agent? Does he not want the voters to know of this part of his experience, background and interests?
Second, this campaign funding pattern sheds light on something which has been known for some time about Koenig and which has played out again in this 2024 race: He is the favored candidate of property owners, owners of businesses and real estate interests.
Just look at the location of his larger than life signs and his list of contributors. He has been well funded by individuals active in the Coastal Property Owners Association, a group which has often clashed with the county and the Coastal Commission over their individual property rights vs the rights of all of us to enjoy the coastline.
And of course, when it comes to the Greenway Measure D history, which has loomed so large over this race, there is no doubt that Supervisor Koenig continues to be backed and funded by large numbers of those property owners and developers who appear to fear the effect on their pocketbook if land and resources are dedicated to a public good known as the rail-trail.
In closing, it is worth noting that in Lookout on Feb. 23, reporter Max Chun wrote an article in which he reported on the most recent candidate campaign filing statements.
Had he waited a few hours to write his article, he would have had access to Koenig’s more recent filing. Instead, he wrote an incomplete story which missed some of the most important parts of the recent filings and shed light on some assertions printed by Lookout earlier this week.
I’m supporting Lani Faulkner. I understand that others may feel differently. But, please don’t be misled by false assertions and scare tactics about outside influence. Look at the facts for yourself.
Victoria Nobles
Santa Cruz