Tuesday, February 22, 2010 | The state's Fair Political Practices Commission has launched an investigation into whether contacts former State Senator Dick Ackerman made with current legislators on behalf of the Orange County Fair Board constituted illegal lobbying.
Fair Board members hired Ackerman, who left the state legislature at the end of 2008, as consultant in 2009 while they were attempting to purchase the 150-acre fairgrounds in Costa Mesa through a nonprofit foundation.
The plan crumbled following public outcry against selling the fairgrounds. Nonetheless, all the maneuvering among Fair Board members and Ackerman eventually caught the attention of Orange County Supervisors.
In October 2009, they formally requested county District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to investigate possible conflicts of interest by Fair Board members as well as Ackerman's dealings. State law forbids legislators from lobbying their former colleagues for a year after they leave office.
After a yearlong investigation, Rackauckas cleared Ackerman and the Fair Board members of any wrongdoing, saying in his report that Ackerman didn't violate a state ban on lobbying former colleagues because "his contact was not with state legislators."
However, a story published earlier this month by Voice of OC revealed that Ackerman's own legal billings show him having interaction with key Orange County legislators before and after key votes that put the fairgrounds up for sale.
"Based on the story, the Committee's Enforcement Division has opened a proactive investigation into this matter," said FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter.
Porter declined any further comment on the specifics of the probe.
Ackerman did not return a call for comment on this story. And DA officials have declined to discuss the details of their report.
Several insiders close to the fairgrounds sale were stunned by the tone of the DA report as well as the conclusions. Some -- including dissident fair board member David Padilla -- said no one from the DA's office ever contacted them to discuss information they had.
Voice of OC obtained Ackerman's own legal billings that showed clear contacts with at least eight members of the Orange County delegation before and after votes that authorized the fairgrounds sale.
In addition, Voice of OC also published his contract with a subcontractor to the fairgrounds (which is how the Ackerman was hidden from public view for months). That contract also highlighted Ackerman's role as a "liaison" with state elected officials.
None of those details were mentioned in the DA report.
Please contact Norberto Santana, Jr. directly at nsantana@voiceofoc.org and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/norbertosantana. And add your voice with a letter to the editor.
Gericault posted at 7:29 am on Wed, Feb 23, 2011.
Top story from The Register's OC Watchdog....."Cookie sales soar for Girl Scouts"...
They're right on top of it as usual......
I love the Voice of OC......
Stunned posted at 5:17 pm on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
Thank you Voice of OC for holding elected officials and govt agencies accountable. It's so funny that in OC, it always seems to be the people shouting loudest about small government who are making the most money off govt. Keep exposing this corruption.
Reggie posted at 11:01 am on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
The Ackerman story hasn't hit Flash Report yet.. Will it? We shall see.....
cacityguy posted at 10:05 am on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
Great coverage Norberto - keep it up. It clearly shows that Orange County voters continuously waste their votes by marking the box with Tony Rackaukass name on it. He goes out of his way to cover something up for one of his good ole boy Republicans. Only when he is out office and a new D.A. comes to town, hopefully, will these crooks run like the rats they are. Media like this needs to continue. People cried "Wolf" for several years on John Williams our Public Administrator/Guardian before he was picked up on more constant media attention - then blam! That's what it takes. Thanks again N.
Gericault posted at 7:55 am on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
Code section 87406(b)
“No Member of the Legislature, for a period of one year after
leaving office, shall, for compensation, act as agent or attorney
for, or otherwise represent, any other person by making any formal or
informal appearance, or by making any oral or written communication,
before the Legislature, any committee or subcommittee thereof, any
present Member of the Legislature, or any officer or employee
thereof, if the appearance or communication is made for the purpose
of influencing legislative action.”
moonunit posted at 7:14 am on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
As a little side note, it's interesting that the Orange County Fair spent over $100,000 advertising in the Orange County Register in 2009, and over $80,000 advertising in the OC Weekly and its sister publication, the LA Weekly.
As traditional media outlets have seen their advertising revenue collapse, some see a corresponding failure to cover stories critical of advertisers, especially when they include decision-makers known for their killer instincts. ( See http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/02/who-is-dave-ellis-a-portrait-of-the-fair-board-chairman/ )
moonunit posted at 6:13 am on Tue, Feb 22, 2011.
Everybody should read the District Attorney's report. It's not just a whitewash of the powerful political players on the Fair Bord. The tone of that report is also revealing, as it lambastes Orange County Supervisors and their staff for daring to suggest that Fair Board Members did anything wrong.
Their section on Ackerman's illegal lobbying obviously didn't examine billing records. The role of Platinum Advisors was never disclosed in the DA's report, and their was no discussion of what they did for ther $50,000. Like Nossman, Ackerman's law firm, Platinum Advisors never registered as a lobbyist for the Fair Grounds.
And the DA's report on the role of the "governance committee" completely missed the point. Committees of state agencies are required to have public meetings, unless they are strictly advisory. Given that Ellis and Dodge clearly exercised the authority of the Board, they needed to have public meetings. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts that were entered were all illegal, and in fact, appear to be false claims under the law.
It appears that Tony Rackaukus is an honest politician. He stays bought.
voiceofreason posted at 9:29 pm on Mon, Feb 21, 2011.
"Based on the story, the Committee's Enforcement Division has opened a proactive investigation into this matter," said FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter.
WOW, Norberto! What would the people do without you? Thank you for truly being the VOICE OF OC! If only other journalists would take the time to do stories like this we could put more of these corrupt politicos where they belong: either in jail, disbarred, or out to pasture. People do not realize this goes on all around us, but if we don't pay attention and take the time the crooks prevail. This county needs a good flushing, and it is disgusting that Ackerman would stoop this low in an effort to help sell off our treasured fairgrounds. NOW we need the Attorney General to take note and Gov. Brown: Kill the sale now! Get rid of this fair board and its ceo. Ackerman and his other trough eating Republicans need to be shown to the kill floor.
Reggie posted at 7:36 pm on Mon, Feb 21, 2011.
We need to start exposing more of the corruption like this that seems to be modus operandi in OC.