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Tsakopoulos cash carries controversy(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 4--Gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides says it is because he is Greek American and shares similar Democratic values that developers Angelo K. Tsakopoulos and Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis have spent $8.7 million to advertise on his behalf this year. But Democratic rival Steve Westly assigns more sinister motives to the contributions, suggesting the Tsakopoulos family seeks only one thing: influence over the state's highest office. Tsakopoulos, the Sacramento region's largest land developer,refuses to say why his family has spent the money aiding his former employee and development partner, but Tsakopoulos has a long history of using his wealth to build business and political relationships with public officials or their spouses. Most recently, he gave $100,000 to conservative Republican Jerry Simmons for the Board of Supervisors race in Placer County, where Tsakopoulos wants approval to donate land for a private university that critics say could lead to more growth. Land use experts say it is more difficult to decipher what favors a developer would seek from a governor. While local officials can provide key votes for specific projects, governors paint in broader strokes by shaping statewide policy. "I think (land use) is a decision left to local cities and counties -- it's a closely guarded authority and I don't think that's going to change any time soon," said Martin Tuttle, former executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments who works for an urban "infill" development company. "I think the key for a governor is that he can set the tone." Tsakopoulos and his daughter have declined to say why they have spent $8.7 million on behalf of Angelides, a state record for family spending on one individual, despite numerous requests from reporters. In addition to the $8.7 million in unrestricted independent expenditure spending, the family has given $228,000 to Angelides' current campaign account within state limits and $3.2 million since his first run for treasurer began in 1993. As of May 17, 21 percent of his direct campaign contributions came from real estate and development interests. The wealthy Westly, who has largely paid for his own campaign, drew 3 percent of his money from development donors. They produced 28 percent of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's total. In the Democratic primary, both Angelides and Westly have worked to appeal to the party's environmental base, promising to pursue "smart growth" strategies and curb suburban sprawl. The governor's most direct role in influencing development is his ability to sign or veto legislation that shapes growth policies throughout the state. Besides using his pen, the governor oversees at least three agencies that can affect regional growth -- the Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. On a specific project, for instance, the Resources Agency's Department of Fish and Game can regulate development near waterways and oversee permits for sites where threatened and endangered species may exist. The governor also makes appointments to state boards, such as Air Resources and Water Resources Control, which can decide how environmental policy shapes development in California. Last year, for instance, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced all seven members of the state Reclamation Board soon after it began looking more critically at development behind levees. Meanwhile, the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency can provide crucial funding for housing and transportation. A decision to use state funds for freeway expansion in one rural area could lead to residential growth later, for instance. Locally, the agency has provided funding to SACOG for a regional growth "blueprint" plan. "My view is that it's going to be very hard from Sacramento to dictate fully to the local level, but make no mistake about it, I'm going to use the power that the state has to guide development in the right way," Angelides said at a campaign stop last month in Santa Monica. "State transportation money, state infrastructure money, state grants will go to communities that are growing in the right way." Angelides has been state treasurer since 1999. Before that, he worked as a Sacramento developer for 15 years. He ran Tsakopoulos' AKT Development for two years before starting his own company, River West Developments, in 1986. Angelides earned more than $11.6 million between 1998 and 2004, according to tax returns released by his campaign. The bulk of that income was related to private Sacramento-area land deals he made as a developer, many with Tsakopoulos as a partner. Some local environmentalists have been fiercely critical of Tsakopoulos for contributing to regional sprawl. They also battled Angelides on local projects when he worked in the private sector. "The governor has a lot of influence on how state government deals with environmental permits and enforcement of environmental laws," said Jude Lamare, a longtime Sacramento environmentalist who has recorded a Westly radio ad critical of Angelides. "I've had enough experience with state government to understand how professional scientists' judgment gets bypassed by political influence." Angelides said he does not feel indebted to Tsakopoulos, despite their numerous personal and business connections. "My job as governor will be to do the right thing," Angelides said. "I am perfectly capable of disagreeing with people, and that includes anyone." More than a week ago, Westly launched his most powerful attack ads to date, environmental broadsides critical of Angelides' development career that could sully his image in the minds of undecided Democratic voters. Angelides responded by ramping up his schedule of environmental press conferences, inviting leaders from the California League of Conservation Voters, Vote the Coast and the Sierra Club to defend him. The leaders said Angelides directed state pension fund investments toward urban "infill" development projects while prioritizing transit-oriented projects as state treasurer. SACOG Executive Director Mike McKeever said he believes in general that mainstream developers are beginning to accept "smart growth" policies, partly due to market changes. But he said politically they may be most worried about "a no-growth backlash" across the state. In the Capitol, Tsakopoulos' AKT Development Corp. has spent $221,000 on lobbying services for five bills since 2002, when he filed his first state lobbying form, according to the secretary of state's office. That year, he began seeking a clarification of the state's Mello-Roos law so developers could receive piecemeal payments for public works installments rather than wait until an entire project was complete. Last year, AKT opposed Senate Bill 820 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, which placed stricter requirements on groundwater assessment. It was backed by environmental groups and water districts but opposed by farmers, businesses and Tsakopoulos. Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure. Kuehl, chairwoman of the Senate's Natural Resources and Water Committee, said she was unaware of Tsakopoulos' opposition to her bill and that the developer has not been a major player in water politics. But she recalled that Tsakopoulos and his daughter once invited her to a breakfast meeting at a downtown Sacramento restaurant after the enactment of a bill she wrote requiring developers to prove they have an adequate supply of water before receiving local approvals. Then-Gov. Gray Davis signed Senate Bill 221 in 2001. "He complained to me bitterly after 221 passed," Kuehl said. "Angelo had it in his mind that it would be good for me to know why this may have been a problem." In one case last year, AKT lobbyist and former Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg lobbied for Tsakopoulos against a bill to ban the use of radio frequency identification chips on driver's licenses and other government cards. The application of Senate Bill 682 to Tsakopoulos' business was less clear than his previous lobbying efforts. But Isenberg suggested in a letter that AKT was concerned because it feared the bill would restrict high-tech firms that could use AKT's commercial developments. Among the bill's major opponents was Atmel Corp., a San Jose firm that produces radio-frequency components. It is run by George Perlegos, a Greek American businessman and a friend of Tsakopoulos who endorsed Angelides in his 1994 run for treasurer. The company also gave Angelides $50,000 in 2001. Isenberg said Tsakopoulos may have been drawn to the issue because of Perlegos, but that the developer was opposed because he felt it inhibited the state's high-tech industry. Angelides is not the first Greek American politician that Tsakopoulos has spent money on -- he has contributed to former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos and Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas, among others. The developer has also given to a wide range of other Democratic politicians, ranging from Rep. Doris Matsui to former President Clinton. Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said he believes Tsakopoulos' motivations are not as clear as either gubernatorial candidate wishes to believe. "People are wondering why, but we know why," Stern said. "It's more than influencing government. It's that he's a friend, a former colleague and a Greek." |