Happenings: The Vote that G&L Bought

KHTS[1] and The Signal[2] revealed that G&L Realty—the group that stands to profit from the Henry Mayo expansion--essentially gave Laurie Ender a $29.5K campaign contribution. To be more precise, G&L gave $30K to the “Citizens for Integrity in Government Committee” which then spent the money on mailers to get Ender elected.

I’m thinking “Citizens for Integrity in Government” might want to change their name to something more accurate, say “Political Action Committee For Real Estate Companies that Want to Buy Seats on City Council." It's too bad that name isn't as inspirational as the original. One would think that a group claiming to represent “Citizens for Integrity” would have a website to discuss its work or solicit donations from integrity-loving Claritans, but apparently not. In any case, we've known about C.F.I.I.G. for a while--it's the fact that they were passing on money from G&L that's news.

As is clear from the photo above, I don't do Photoshop.

It is obvious how all of this will play out for Ender. She’ll say something to the effect that, as a mother and someone concerned about the health and welfare of Santa Claritans, she has always been in favor of expanding the Henry Mayo campus. Her commitment to this position attracted funders with the same goal: more medical office buildings. It's just logical, right?

Still, no one is going to take any arguments that Laurie Ender makes during deliberation seriously. As G&L’s go-to-gal, she will be verbally skewered. Speeches will be prefaced with “We know that a successful real estate company took a $30,000 bet on how you would vote, Councilmember Ender, and they’re not in the business of losing.”

Approval of the Henry Mayo Master Plan is and has been a foregone conclusion. I do wonder, though, if Ferry-Ender Enterprises is going to bother with the charade of discussing the Master Plan or just move to get things approved right away. Maybe Ender will make some tough demands for show, like gardenias in the healing garden and more lunch options at the Inpatient Building that "may" be built. Or maybe she’ll just sit in the quiet embarrassment. Sure, all candidates get money from groups hoping for favorable votes in return, but this is a particularly unpalatable example.

I’m sorry I can’t summon up some satiric or humorous way to discuss this; I’m just annoyed. $30K—a paltry sum for G&L, to be sure—can buy the mailers that get a few hundred extra votes needed to get a pro-expansion candidate the needed seat. But if you've got the money and stomach for it, what's not to heart?

[1]KHTS story
[2]The Signal story