Follow the Money Boys

An article in the June issue of “Capistrano Common Sense” identified some of the players in South County’s power clique: http://www.ccsense.com/2013/06/big-money-in-small-town-politics.html

The article outlined complaints of two San Juan Capistrano residents about the activities of political consultant Roger Faubel:

• OCTax PAC shares Faubel’s business address, and as an officer of OC Taxpayers, Faubel signed their most recent tax returns in 2010 and 2011;
• OCTax PAC spent nearly $10,000 on mailers promoting Sam Allevato and Ginny Kerr for City Council;
• OC Taxpayers, SDG+E and the Orange County Transportation Agency (OCTA) are all Faubel clients. SDG+E has a large SJC expansion project pending approval in San Juan, and the OCTA granted SJC substantial sums of taxpayer monies from Measure M (gasoline tax) funding for SJC projects.
• Jonathan Volzke former Capistrano Dispatch Editor, was hired by Faubel shortly after an article appeared in the Dispatch promoting the proposed SDG&E expansion project in San Juan. SDG+E became Volzke’s client when he was hired by Faubel. Volzke also wrote “Guest Columns” in the Dispatch promoting Allevato and Kerr, prior to the City Council election.
• Another Faubel client is the Orange County Transportation Agency (“OCTA”) which reportedly awarded $108,000 of public monies to Faubel to do “community outreach” to San Juan businesses during the I-5 interchange construction. The award of the no-bid contract was criticized by Council members Roy Byrnes and Derek Reeve, who expressed concern about the appearance of impropriety, given Faubel’s and Volzke’s very public promotion of Sam Allevato during the campaign, and due to Faubel and Volzke’s very public efforts to defeat Byrnes and McCarthy. Allevato publicly supported the award of OCTA (taxpayer) funds to Faubel & Associates.
• Lysa Ray Campaign Services has the OC Taxpayers Association as a client. During the election, Lysa Ray established a PAC called “Residents for Reform”. During the campaign, Residents for Reform sent out a mass email which included residents in San Juan featuring a re-print of an OC Register article. The headline was altered, falsely and libelously claiming, “State will investigate Burns (sic) and McCarthy for money laundering”. No such violation ever existed or was alleged to exist.
• Lysa Ray’s PAC also paid for a “robo call” to San Juan voters on the eve of the election, featuring former Mayor Wyatt Hart (a former client of Ray’s) accusing Byrnes and McCarthy of being investigated for “illegal activities”.
• Lysa Ray also employed “Delta Partners” in her clients’ campaign to oppose Roy Byrnes and Kim McCarthy. Delta Partners is a political consulting firm headed by David Ellis of Newport Beach who served on the Board of OC Taxpayers in 2007.

OCPoliticsblog.com picked up the article, adding a cartoon, “Foibles of Faubel,” and reader comments: http://ocpoliticsblog.com/are-roger-faubel-and-the-octax-pac-up-to-no-good-in-san-juan-capistrano/

The July issue of “Capistrano Common Sense” contains articles about the proposed 241 extension and the city of San Juan Capistrano’s water fiasco. http://www.ccsense.com/

Follow the money boys as they buy council majority votes and cash in on transportation, water, electricity and housing.