Buy Vallejo !!!

"If we back you...Will you stay bought??"

 HOW THE UNIONS AND OTHER SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS BUY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

3/2/09

By Robert Schussel Ph.D

United Workers For Local Government (UWLG)--a union Political Action Committee (PAC)--donated $88,155 in services during the last Vallejo City Council Election or 59% of their budget. (see chart below)

Union endorsed candidates (Hannigan & Wilson) got half of their money from large contributions over $1,000 versus 19% for Davis and 11% for Schivley.

To be re-elected, union endorsed candidates need to tow the line or lose their special interest financial backing.

One third of the campaign money for Vallejo City Council members Michael Wilson and Erin Hannigan came from the unions and their members.

Over $160K was raised by local unions. (see chart below)  to influence elections in Solano County.

59% went to the last Vallejo City Council Election.

Almost none of the money raised by the unions or their candidates was spent on discretionary services in Vallejo. Much of the campaign literature for the union backed candidates was printed in Sacramento.

• All but $4,000 in printing was spent in other communities.

• Even $1,000 in liquor for a Vallejo event was purchased in Vacaville.

• Nearly half of all UWLG monies came from Vallejo firefighters.

On top of the $79,500 that the firefighters gave for influencing political campaigns an additional $13,905 was given directly by 22 Vallejo Firefighters to union endorsed candidates in the Vallejo City Council race. (see chart below).

Comments

The amount of monies given by unions and special interest groups such as the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce ($8,000 each for Wilson and Hannigan) to candidates appears to greatly influence how they vote on issues.

A case in point is the dismissal of the City Manager Joe Tanner even if it means that Touro University might pull the best project that Vallejo has been offered in 10 years. It is no secret that the Unions do not like a strong City Manager. The union endorsed City Council members appear willing to sacrifice $2 billion in investments by Touro University that our community badly needs to keep their financial benefactors (ie the unions) happy.

Another example is the issue of Binding Arbitration which has resulted in severe consequences for Vallejo. For example, a recent ruling that The City had no control over staffing levels (cost $4M) was partly responsible for the current bankruptcy. None of the four union sponsored city councilmembers have ever addressed the issue of Binding Arbitration.

City employees and their unions should not be allowed to have the influence that they do with City Council.

Reform needs to occur that significantly limits the size of contributions and services to candidates and prevents the unions from making donations.