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By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Two independent expenditure committees poured in nearly $500,000 to support Michael Allen in the waning days of his campaign against a fellow Democrat for a newly-drawn state Assembly seat, records show.
The Peace Officers Research Association of California kicked in $252,000, and the California Alliance put in another $238,000.
Allen, Levine.
The alliance is comprised of consumer attorneys, conservationists and nurses. The money was spent on television ads opposing Marc Levine, who on Friday criticized the expenditures.
“They are desperate to distract the voters from Allen’s history of ethics problems and putting himself ahead of public service,” the San Rafael councilman said. “The voters of Sonoma and Marin will see past these deceptive attacks.”
Allen, D-Santa Rosa, refused comment on Friday. He has not made himself available for an interview with The Press Democrat in more than a month.
Independent expenditure committees have contributed more than $700,000 in support of Allen, who recently moved to San Rafael so he could run for the 10th Assembly District seat.
He and Levine are vying to represent residents of Marin County, part of Santa Rosa and portions of western and southern Sonoma County.
Levine also received a boost from two independent expenditure committees that combined contributed more than $250,000 in opposition of Allen.
The money came from the Western Growers Association and California Citrus Mutual.
Western Growers opposed Allen’s bill that would have given farmworkers the right to overtime pay after they work more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours a week. The bill, which was backed by the United Farm Workers union, was rejected in August by the Assembly.
(You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.)
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SWEET JUSTICE.
I have to agree with Kay. Thank you Rosa Koire for any impact that you made.
Looks like Michael Allen lost. I guess busting him on FPPC violations finally paid off. Thanks, Rosa Koire. We need more people like her brave enough to go after the cheaters in politics.
I am 100% certain that Michael Allen will represent the people better than Levine. Levine is a democrat in name only and this is a farce in itself. He is not true to the electorate or himself. If voted in he will have a lot of work to do paying back all of the corporate money that has back him. That’s a lot of promises to keep. Allen by contrast will have to keep his promises to the working people, teachers, nurses, the environment and our kid’s education. That’s ok in my book!
Mockingbird,
Agree about Michael Allen outworking just about everybody. He gets things done!
The other thing that is important for voters to remember is that Michael Allen is one of the few liberal politicians that are not afraid to say they are liberal, be liberal, and stick to their values.
I’ve had too many recent disappointments after electing politicians to get things done and then find them rushing to the “nothing in the middle” spot just to get re-elected.
Michael Allen fights for our rights, so he’s our choice!
Beef King-everyone I know is voting for Michael Allen and all of us are college graduates. If you can’t say something smart and true don’t say anything at all.
I know that Michael Allen has worked TIRELESSLY for middleclass workers, union and non union all his life. That’s all I need to know to vote for him. He is probably the only prolabor assemblyman who stands up for workers and their families. I am proud he voted for the law that gave field workers a more safe working environment and the right to be paid adequately. I cannot understand how ANY working person can be against this. As for being beholden to unions, I can say that Michael has ALL OF CALIFORNIA’S workers in mind when he votes. He’s already made decisions that some of us union members aren’t happy with so he’s definitely not in our pocket-yet we still support him. The expectation from unions is that he will be a voice and listen to our concerns. Our expectation is that he will listen and consider workers’ needs in his decisions and that we will have our input considered. That is the most any union member can have.
The sheer volume of Allen mailers makes even the uninformed voters take notice. The amount of money, waste and all around disgust (I can’t be the only one that thinks he looks like a pedophile mugshot) of looking at this slimy turd is cause to vote for ANYONE but this guy.
I am a life long democrat and I would vote for a Republican before I would vote for Allen. It is abundantly clear that several of the OPS here are Allen cronies because no one would ever come to the defense of someone with his track record unless there was something in it for them.
Fingers crossed that we can get through tomorrow without ever seeing his creepy face again.
Michael Allen never saw a raise or increased benefit for police. firemen, and other pubic servant that he wasnt for. We now have salaries and benefits the cities, counties and state cant afford. The state is basically bankrupt, relies on govt to pay its unemployed (while other states borrow from fed to pay their unemployed, California which cant pay back the money is given this money). To continue increasing bennies of public servants, Brown gives us prop. 30 to raise more taxes so money that should go to schools from the budget can be given to union employees instead.
This country is failing because this county votes by party and not in the interest of the nation. The corruption is so thick in this county because of guys like Allen and others currently in office! People are leaving Sonoma because of the corruption and we wonder why real estate is rising here like other places in the state and country!
Solid voting tip: Ask Lisa Maldonado who she’s voting for and then vote the opposite.
I’ll support anyone running against Allen.
Remember when he did terribly in a run for Santa Rosa City Council just a couple years ago? It’s because Santa Rosans know him.
Dick Tracy:
The law is not black and white as you attempt to make it appear.
It is flexible in its application and often times that flexibility is abused by the government employees including the judges.
A perfect example of manipulating the laws via a judges cleverly injected bias can be seen in the ownership of human slaves in American history. “All men are created equal”… except when American judges made their decisions that human slaves did not count as “men.”
The vast majority of the American people do not understand the reality that judges are actually able to manipulate events toward their own bias.
To say that the judge made an UN-biased ruling on the public pension issue is engage in wishful thinking.
This is why I advocate cameras in each and every court room in the land. When the public can see what is going on, they will be shocked. That is why the courts FEAR cameras.
it appears many of you people are under the impression that there is some kind of perfect candidate, someone whom you would wholeheartedly agree with on every issue, someone who would never take any kind of money from the party or special interests, someone who would take a firm stand against negative campaigning when the negative ads are almost always done via the party or a super pac, which the candidate themselves have no control over.
both candidates in this race have had ethics violations.
allen has been a sitting legislator, so he has had an opportunity to vote on and introduce bills on a variety of issues, whereas levine has only been city council. and you guys all LOVE city council right?? no, you don’t.
please, show me this perfect candidate. oh right, this person doesn’t exist.
so, why don’t one of you run, and allow yourself to be slandered on the internet? see how far you get not taking any money into your campaign from the party, or a super pac.
i am an educated voter, and i recognize that there is no perfect candidate, just like there is no perfect child or perfect partner, or perfect answer to any question.
vote for who you think will 1) be able to actually get bills passed through the legislature (this would certainly be allen) and 2) who you think, on the whole, will vote in your best interest (you may not like allen’s priorities, and that is a fair assessment. but what are levine’s priorities? i have heard nothing of substance come from him. no, “creating jobs” is not substance, it’s rhetoric).
you will never love every vote your rep takes. period. accept it and move on. representative democracy is, by nature, compromise.
Snarky,
In bankruptcy, there are traditional and established hierarchies regarding the honoring of claims. My understanding is that wages owed to employees are pretty high on the list; the judge has apparently ruled that retirees deserve similar status. Why should bondholders having diverse portfolios–possibly even mutual funds or ETF’s–be paid before individual retirees, whose only diversification is that of the retirement fund and whose opportunity to “start over” is non-existent?
Recently i received two salvos of “hit” pieces from corporate supporters of Marc Levine. In short, Michael Allen was painted as a Tamany Hall-style crooked poll. The authors of the pieces thoughtfully provides footnotes referring to newspaper account. Having found my Dean Edell glasses to read the tiny print, this is what I found out, after accessing the articles on-line: 1) Having his current district 10 pivot clock-wise and southward in a way which includes all of Santa Rosa except its far eastern-most section, where he then resided, Allen had a choice: run in one part or the other of his current district. Allen chose to run in the newly-delineated 10th Assembly District which contains almost of all of Santa Rosa, where he has lived for several decades. To call this “shopping for a district,” as the Levine supporters’ hit pieces allege, is preposterous BS. 2) Having made that choice, it was necessary for Allen both to live in the new 10th and, one would think, to spend a lot of time getting to know folks in Marin County. To call Allen a “carpetbagger” is another preposterous piece of BS. 3) Levine supporters allege that Allen was paid to lobby himself. Another lie. When Allen applied for the Santa Rosa Planning Commission, he revealed his association with the Water Agency. In addition, he HAD ALREADY BEEN PAID for his efforts when he cast his vote, meaning he had no financial interest in the outcome. Still, he acknowledged that he should not have voted on the project, and paid his fine–which was by far not the highest possible–FPCC officials knew an honest mistake when they saw one.
4) The biggest lie, incorporated in the first volley of Levine hit pieces but dropped in the second, was that Allen cheated on his property tax to a four figure tune. When it was revealed by the Sonoma County Assessor a) that this is a common error people make, and b) that the sum mentioned in the piece was not taxes but assessed value, with Allen’s advantage being ONLY $70; c) that Allen had remedied the error; and d) that the fine was ONLY $20, even these liars blushed.
In my view, the blatantly dishonest parties are the supporters of Marc Levine.
I get daily junk mail with this idiot’s smiling face all over it. If he claims to be an environmental advocate, then why is he spamming everyone’s snail mail?
I’m confused. I haven’t seen the Press Democrat on any of Levine’s financial disclosure forms. Surely the copious amount of Levine quotes, coupled with the desperate attacks on Allen, constitutes an in-kind donation to his campaign. Oh that’s right, the PD IS essentially Levine’s entire campaign.
Mr. Allen is the beneficiary of an under-educated voting populace.
North Bay voters are too busy to care what their beloved “Democrats” are up to.
If they took a moment to look, they would see that Michael Allen and his friends are Democrats in name only, and in fact by action are more accurately labeled as Social Marxists.
A vote against Michael Allen is a vote against Union Corruption and a vote for the return of American liberties to the North Bay.
GAJ:
Correct you are.
You noticed in quality news media sources over the last few days that a judge ruled that public employee pensions must be paid regardless of bankruptcy of that government entity ?
Is that any surprise?
Hmmmmmm.
Public employees demanding MORE in pensions than most of us ever earned on the job….
And a ruling in their favor by a PUBLIC EMPLOYEE JUDGE.
Marc took money from Bodean Asphalt. He took money from Cal-Pox after approving their Target on the Bay in San Rafael. He maxed out with Western Growers after their 300K IE. And as Lisa so kindly pointed out, he also got a load of cash from Mill Valley hedge fund managers that have dumped a couple million into No on 30/Yes on 32.
You may not agree with every decision that Michael Allen has ever made, I know I sure as heck don’t. But the fact is, Marc Levine does not stand for the people of Marin and Sonoma County. Marc Levine stands for large-scale Ag, industrial development, and our local outpost of Wall Street.
Allen is getting the bucks because those that are supporting him, know that if elected, he’s been bought by them and he’ll do whatever they want.
He has no morals, convictions, or principals of his own. He’s proven to be as big of a weasel as Noreen Evans, and unfortunately, just like she keeps getting elected, he probably will too.
Why do we keep sending such trash forward to “represent?” us???
I can not think of a day I went to my mailbox and did not have a hit piece from Michael Allen against Levine. I will NOT vote for Allen due to the extreme negativity from his campaign. If Marc Levine were sending negative mailer after negative mailer we would certainly hear it from Allen’s backers, ESPECIALLY Lisa Maldonado. The amount of money being spent from Sacramento on these mailers is absolutely sickening.
Michael Allen was found guilty of violating FPPC rules regarding conflict of interest: http://www.fppc.ca.gov/agendas/02-11/AllenExhibit.pdf
Allen gets most of his own (apart from the independent groups mentioned in the above article) campaign donations from unions, the largest single segment from public sector unions. http://influenceexplorer.com/politician/id/0ad3be714184459389da688d7239c08b?cycle=-1
Isn’t it great that a republican Supreme Court gave EVERYONE the right to contribute ANY amount of cash.
After all, we’re all just “people.”
Levine has thrown so much mud at one three year old violation of the fppc rules. Allen was on the Planning Commission and voted to pass the General Plan, as did all his colleagues. When he realized the project he was supporting was part of it, he himself notified the fppc, and paid a fine. The project, by the way, was never built.As for being beholden to special interests, it’s Levine who takes money from known polluters and hedge fund managers. Whose interests are they working for?
Not the schools, not the health of the people, and surely not the environment. Use your google and find out the facts.
Marc Levine has violated the FPPC Act for failing the report income. Not his own of course, he hasn’t held a paying jobs for over five years. But he failed to report his wife’s earnings because he didn’t want voters to know he was not a wage earner. He also voted to approve Target and then took money from the property owner who sold to Target. Mr Levine’s entire campaign consists of calling Michael Allen names while Michael Allen has been endorsed by Sierra Club, Conservation Action, Planned Parenthood and even the SPCA because of his WORK on behalf of our community.
Michael Allen has been investigated on ethics charges so much I have begun to lose count.
Marc Levine is a balanced voice not beholden to special interests like M. Allen and his North bay labor my way or the highway backers.
Levine is a guy that can beat Allen and kick him out of office. Vote for Marc Levine.
A cop lobbying group and left wing unions, attornies, greenies and union nurses make for a wicked brew in Sacramento and in California politics.
They own the state legislature now and they like it that way. Allen is just one of their boys.
Levine seems like he doesn’t share their views so he is cast as someone coming from the FBI to investigate them and they have reacted.
Levine will get my vote just because of who opposes him. Many in this state are fed up with the corruption in Sacramento, in state politics and how the democrats and public unions have run this state into the ground.
Time for real change and the is now.
$500,000 for Allen, $250,000 for Levine. They’re both way too much money, but the article and headline make it appear that the only problem is with the dollars directed toward Allen — when, in reality, he just (and justifiably) has more support than his opponent. This is poor journalism. And note: Elected officials only stop talking with the press when they don’t feel their coverage is fair. Michael Allen has plenty of reason to feel that way about the PD and, as a reader, I don’t appreciate biased reporting either.
Also, the bill that Michael Allen supported which the Western Grower’s have opposed (and for which they also targeted the bill’s author Betsy Butler in similar mail attacks) was a bill requiring shade and water for farmworkers. Assemblymember Allen supported this bill because he believes in safe and fair working conditions for all workers. The big factory farmers at the Western Growers Association who are backing Marc Levine don’t care how many workers die while picking their crops.
Once again Derek Moore misses the REAL story again by leaving out some vital information about Marc Levine’s anti union, anti-worker hedge fund backers. Perhaps this kind of one sided reporting is why Mr Moore does not receive calls back from Assemblyman Allen? http://www.marinij.com/millvalley/ci_21908730/mill-valley-hedge-fund-managers-spend-big-promote?source=email
Dear Deep Pocket IECS. Sorry to burst your bubbles but neither of these clowns deserve my vote. And neither will get it. I truly wish that I could vote “None of the Above” in this race.
Of course the cops throw hundreds of thousands of dollars Allen’s way as he had a hand in throwing tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars their way by ballooning their already generous benefits packages in the early 2000′s.
I mean, come on, who WOULDN’T want to have the ability to make MORE in retirement than they did while working?
Idiotic, self serving, selfish and budget busting for sure, but that’s what the cops wanted and what Allen helped deliver.
We will be living with the negative fallout from that decision for at least the next 30 years.
Thanks Mike, you’re the man.