Ackerman Political Slush Fund Money?

Is Linda Ackerman using political slush fund money to fund her campaign for the Assembly seat (AD 72) vacated by the disgraced Mike Duvall?  A recent campaign finance disclosure indicates that she took thousands of dollars from a suspicious political committee apparently run by a Republican lobbyist.

Linda Ackerman’s campaign disclosure indicates that she took thousands of dollars from a suspicious political committee.  The Citizens for Brulte committee is allegedly for a distant future political campaign by Republican lobbyist Jim Brulte (putative candidate for Board of Equalization in the year 2014).  Brulte, a former California Republican Senate Leader, is a lobbyist with California Strategies.

Critics question Brulte’s ties to a political scandal in San Bernadino county and District Attorney Michael Ramos.  The scandal involved a legal dispute between the county and Colonies Partners LP.   Brulte helped broker a settlement – (shockingly) representing both sides in the dispute.  The $102 million settlement sparked a political corruption scandal, with several county officials being sued for misappropriation of taxpayer funds.  Ramos then enlisted Brulte for Ramos’ recent $100,000 political fundraiser – even though Ramos is charged with investigating the scandal (and the extent, if any, of Brulte’s involvement in it).

California Common Cause has criticized political committees like Brulte’s as “slush funds, for lack of a better word”.  A California campaign finance law loophole allow former politicians to use these committees to control millions of dollars as fundraisers and donors.  The Oakland Tribune has reported that former politicians controlling these alleged political slush funds include Jim Brulte, Dick Ackerman, and Don Perata (who used his committee’s funds to help shield him from a federal corruption investigation).

While Linda Ackerman’s campaign funding smells of Sacramento’s bipartisan Culture of Corruption, it also reeks of a Culture of Creepiness.  Voters and taxpayers should find it creepy to see former politicians and lobbyists using political slush funds to pull the strings of candidates like Linda Ackerman.