Measures Q and R on the November 6, 2012 ballot ask Sacramento voters to let the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Trustees borrow a total of $414 million for construction by selling bonds to institutional investors. Sacramento taxpayers must pay this money back to the investors – with interest! It will cost at least $734 million – perhaps more if the district is lured into selling Capital Appreciation Bonds.
The opposition web site to Measures Q and R: www.fairandopencompetitionsacramento.com
Here are a couple of my observations about contributions to the campaign, based on the Sacramento City Unified School District – Yes on Q and R Campaign Form 460 – through September 30 2012 and the Sacramento City Unified School District – Yes on Q and R Campaign Form 460 – through October 20 2012.
1. This Campaign Is a Sitting Duck for Accusations of “Pay-to-Play”
Here’s a list of all of the campaign contributors through October 20, 2012, with links to the company web sites, the amounts contributed, and the business interest of the contributor.
| DONOR | INTEREST | AMOUNT |
| Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No. 447 | Construction trade union | $25,000 |
| Lozano Smith | Law firm for school districts | $10,000 |
| Cumming | Construction management | $5,000 |
| California Association of Realtors | Selling houses and protecting interests at the state capitol | $5,000 |
| Landmark Construction | Construction company – built past SCUSD schools without and then with a Project Labor Agreement | $5,000 |
| Lionakis | Architect | $5,000 |
| Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | Bond counsel | $5,000 |
| Sacramento-Sierra’s Building and Construction Trades Council | Construction trade unions | $2,500 |
| [Central Valley Sheet Metal Industry] Labor Management Cooperation Trust | Union-affiliated labor-management cooperation committee | $2,500 |
| DLR Group | Architect | $1,500 |
| Northern California Carpenters Regional Council | Construction trade union | $1,000 |
| Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 District 80 | Construction trade union | $1,000 |
| Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard | Law firm for school districts | $500 |
| Loan from Patrick Kennedy for SCUSD Board of Education | School board member’s political campaign fund | $528 |
| Williams + Paddon Architects + Planners | Architect | $500 |
| Bricklayers and Allied Craftsworkers Local Union No. 3 | Construction trade union | $250 |
| Other | $25 | |
| TOTAL | $70,303.00 | |
2. Another Labor-Management Cooperation Committee Contributes to a Campaign
How many people in Sacramento know about the Central Valley Sheet Metal Industry Labor Management Cooperation Trust? There’s only one place on the web where you’ll read about labor-management cooperative trusts, and you’re reading it now. These trusts are arcane entities authorized by the obscure Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978, a law signed by President Jimmy Carter and implemented by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. There are no federal or state regulations specifically addressed toward these trusts, and these trusts do not have any reporting requirements to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
