Which SLO County candidates take money from oil, developers and cannabis? Find out here
More than $1 million has been raised so far by candidates in the March 3 election for the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, including from special interests who will likely want something from county leaders down the line.
In the interest of transparency and fairness, candidates are legally required to disclose campaign contributions and expenditures each election season. By law, they must report each donation of more than $100 to the County Clerk Recorder’s Office and report a total calculation of all donations. Some chose to report donations of smaller values. Each candidate must also report a total amount of donations, including donations of less than $100.
To help you understand what interests are supporting which candidates, The Tribune pulled the receipts from recent campaign finance forms and analyzed the data. Information is current as of Jan. 31 and will be updated as we approach Election Day. Here’s a quick overview of what we found:
- Candidates accepted money from developers, cannabis businesses and oil companies who have proposed projects.
- District 5 candidates raised the most money, indicating it’s the most competitive of the three district supervisor races.
- Three political action committees have formed specifically to oppose local Democratic candidates.
Campaign cash in District 1: John Peschong and Stephanie Shakofsky
John Peschong (incumbent)
Cash received: $198,394
Major donors include Shae Homes, Plains Pipeline, Home Builders Association of the Central Coast and Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County.
Received more than $1,000 from business owners or executives with Treana and Hope Family Wines, real estate developer NKT Commercial, Kirk Consulting, Vaquero Energy, Viborg Sand and Gravel, Martin Resorts, Tolosa Winery & Vineyards, J. Lohr Properties, the California Real Estate PAC, San Miguel Garbage, Paso Robles Waste & Recycle, Ancient Peaks Winery, the president of Trans West, Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County, Betteravia Farms, Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians, Pasolivo Olive Oil, Anastasi Development Co., and several out-of-county organizations including Troy Group, Bob Nelson for Supervisor and others.
Stephanie Shakofsky
Cash received: $47,015
Major donors include Democrats of San Luis Obispo, the owner of Yin McDonalds Management in Vacaville, San Luis Obispo County Deputy Sheriffs Association PAC, the owner of Pomar Junction Vineyard, and a Laguna Beach real estate agent.
Most donations over $250 were received from out-of-county sources, including the city manager of Irvine.
Campaign cash in District 3: Adam Hill and Stacy Korsgaden
Adam Hill (incumbent)
Cash received: $165,997
Major donors include International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC Educational Fund, development company NKT Pine Street, PG&E, Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union, and Democrats of San Luis Obispo.
Received more than $1,000 from Ye Rustic Inn, Southern California Pipe Trades District Council, International Union of Operating Engineers, design company MFI Limited, and business owners or executives with J. Lohr Winery, Covelop, Compass Health, Cool Properties, John Madonna Construction, Coastal Communities Builders, JW Design & Construction Inc.. and others.
Stacy Korsgaden
Cash received: $190,415
Major donors include Stacy Korsgaden Insurance Agency, a philanthropist in Wyoming, and the California Real Estate PAC.
Received more than $1,000 from Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo Cattlemen’s PAC, a correctional officer in Arroyo Grande, Farmers Group Inc. Employees and Agents PAC, Old Juan’s Cantina, Key Property Management, and business owners or executives with Key Property Management, Sloco Enterprises Insurance, Mission Community Bank and others.
Campaign cash in District 5: Debbie Arnold and Ellen Beraud
Debbie Arnold (incumbent)
Cash received: $275,727
Major donors include the director of Hughes Charitable Foundation, Shea Homes, Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians, California Independent Petroleum Association PAC, Plains Pipeline, the California Real Estate PAC and The Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County.
Received more than $1,000 from Teixeira Brothers Land LP, Jordan Cunningham for Assembly 2020, Aguiar for Assessor 2022 and business owners or executives with Abraxas Energy Consulting, Kirk Consulting, Hearst Corp., Viborg Sand & Gravel, Rothco Feed Service, John Madonna Construction, Anastassi Development Co, Pasolivo Olive Oil, Vince for Assembly 2020, Souza Counstuction Inc., and others.
Ellen Beraud
Cash received: $325,751
Major donors include a developer and cannabis investor with OG Investors, Beachwood Industries, California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Action, Vinco Farms, Bruce Gibson for Supervisor 2018 and Central Coast Labor Council PAC.
Received more than $1,000 from Carlyn Christianson for City Council 2018, Atascadero Democratic Club, Democrats of San Luis Obispo, Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 403 PAC, Southern California Pipe Trades District, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC Education Fund, a retired Santa Barbara County resident, and business owners or executives with J. Lohr Winery, Pear Valley Vineyard, Vino Farms, Natural Healing Center, and others.
Who shared major donors?
Several people and companies gave money to more than one candidate, with most donating along party lines.
Some gave to both Hill and Beraud, including Beachwood Industries and the IBEW PAC Educational Fund, while Plains Pipeline, Aguiar for Assessor 2020 based in Irvine and Robert McCarthy, an Avila Beach landowner, donated to both Arnold and Peschong.
Arnold and Korsgaden also received large donations from the California Real Estate PAC.
Big cannabis money in District 5
Over half a million dollars was raised so far to fund campaigns in District 5 — twice the amount raised in District 1 — indicating Debbie Arnold and Ellen Beraud’s is the most competitive of the three seats up for grabs this election.
Beraud accepted the largest donation by far in this year’s supervisor campaigns: $23,000 from William Szymczak of Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. He’s a developer invested in a proposed SLO County cannabis project backed by Helios Dayspring, a prominent local cannabis business owner. Several other cannabis businesses contributed to her campaign, as well.
Arnold and her campaign criticized the donation as an example of “pay to play.”
Arnold also accepted money from businesses with proposed projects in the county — albeit at far less amounts — including from Plains Pipeline. The company recently proposed building a new, replacement 124-mile oil pipeline across the Central Coast that would reopen offshore production.
What role are PACs playing in this election?
PACs are organizations formed specifically to raise and spend money to elect or defeat candidates, but they can’t coordinate campaign activities with candidates’ own committees.
In this year’s supervisor races, three political action committees have formed to oppose the Democratic candidates challenging Peschong and Arnold.
Two PACs filed paperwork to oppose Ellen Beraud. They’re called “Back the Badge PAC“ and “Friends of Veterans in San Luis Obispo County, Primarily Formed to Oppose Ellen Beraud for Supervisor 2020.”
Despite what their names imply, neither group represents an existing grassroots organization that supports law enforcement or veterans. Several people who donated to the PACs also donated to Debbie Arnold. The Arnold campaign told The Tribune they don’t know who is responsible for forming the PACs.
Both were filed by Bryan Burch of Political Finance Solutions, a Sacramento-based campaign service company that’s worked for the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County and John Peschong.
Another PAC formed to oppose Stephanie Shakofsky in Peschong’s District. It’s called “Central Coast Residents for Responsible Leadership, Primarily Formed to Oppose Shakofsky for Supervisor 2020.”
It was filed by Aaron Hanke, who worked for the No on Measure G campaign that was primarily funded by the oil industry. Measure G was a failed citizens initiative to ban fracking and new oil wells in parts of the county.
So far, no records show political action committees formed to oppose Republican candidates.
This story has been updated to reflect totals as of Feb. 25.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow did we report this story?
Tribune reporter Cassandra Garibay downloaded County Clerk-Recorder’s Campaign Finance Disclosure PDFS found through the county’s portal and used a code to parse through the PDFS and turn them into a spreadsheet. She then went through the data and made sure all information was transferred to the spreadsheet accurately.
Why did we report this?
The Tribune learned through an online election poll that our readers are interested in where candidates receive their campaign money. Through the database and several stories behind the campaign donations, we explore who and why people donated to candidates.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
