In the documentation, excerpts are provided to help scholars with their research.
Notes by the author of this report are place in [brackets].
Pacific Vinyards, Prison Guards
<http://www.humaneventsonline.com/articles/05-13-02/freddoso.htm>
Possible Corruption in Davis Administration Gives Simon Another Issue
Fundraising Scandals Scathe Davis
By David Freddoso
From Human Events Mag.
This is a great article on Davis' supporters and listing Davis' scandals.
<http://www.calcsea.org/president/csea_voice/20000225-08.html>
CSEAVoice
By Perry Kenny, President
February 25, 2000
A state post for Brown -- really: Davis confirms CalPERS offer ...
Sacramento Bee, Feb. 17, 2000
Did Gov. Gray Davis appoint San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to the state employees retirement board or not? Brown has said so. Secretary of State Bill Jones tended to agree. And by the evening of Feb. 16, so did Davis.
Great article on the Brown appt.
<http://www.reformpartyofcalifornia.org/inthenews/conflict.html>
[This is a good one on Burkle.]
CalPERS invested $700 million with Davis donor
Lance Williams San Francisco Chronincle 5/26/02
[We need to fix the system!!!..........] The California Public Employee Pension System steered $700 million in investment capital to a wealthy financier who has donated more than $600,000 to Gov Gray Davis and thousands more to officials who serve on the CalPERS board, according to state records.
According to the records, in the past year CalPERS board has twice voted to make multimillion cash infusions in venture capital funds controlled by billionaire financier and supermarket magnate Ron Burkle of Los Angeles.
He is a heavy-hitting political donor with close ties to Davis and other top Democrats, including CalPERS board members San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and state Treasurer Phil Angelides.
Since 1998, Burkle has donated $609,000 to Davis' gubernatorial campaigns, and last year his Golden States Foods firm hired Davis' wife to serve on the board of directors.
The governor controls four appointments to the 13-member CalPERS board, but a spokesman said Davis plays no role in CalPERS investment decisions. [...four appointments...]
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/3338273.htm>
Posted on Sat, May. 25, 2002
Ron Burkle: family friend
GENEROUS CONTRIBUTOR LANDS DEALS WITH STATE
[This article is great. Burkle and Davis' appointees to Calpers is exposed.]
And ever since Davis was a state assemblyman representing Beverly Hills in the 1980s, he has been able to count on Ron Burkle to chip in to his campaign war chest. As time has passed, Burkle's donations have grown, totaling $612,000 since 1998, when the governor took office. Few Davis donors can match that.
[Much more]
<http://www.millennialrights.com/column/2002/lucketta/may-28.html>
[Good]
Millennial Rights Columnist
Filed: Weekly | By Aldo Lawrence Lucketta
Conservative Columnist from California
Davis' Mockery of Democracy !
Filed 05-28-2002 | CALIFORNIA {Porterville} - Full Story
CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System), in now under investigation for a $100 million investment in Premier Pacific Vineyards of California and Oregon. Campaign kickbacks, guised as contributions, from "friends" of the development firm -- who hosted a fund raiser for Davis -- are now being looked at because of a 1998 law that CalPERS voted on. This law was created to bar it's own board members from obtaining political donations from firms that sought or were doing business with the pension fund. But on March 28, CalPERS Board authorized a three-year contract with Premier Pacific Vineyards. Who's on CalPERS Board ? Mayor Willie Brown, and insurance consultant Sidney Abrams -- who were directly appointed by Davis, along with state treasurer Phil Angelides, and state controller Kathleen Connell. Amazing isn't it; how the truth and a cup of coffee will wake you up !
California's Prison guards, one of Davis' biggest contributors -- hoping for that 34% pay increase -- may have to pony up close to 2 million dollars this time around just to get half that raise. 2 million dollars ! Why hasn't anyone looked into those contributions. Oracle got popped for a $25,000 thousand donation.
Just last month, gubernatorial nominee, (R) Bill Simon was quoted as saying, "We need a governor who concentrates more on the state's pressing financial matters rather than on his own personal campaign fund-raising. It is abundantly clear that this governor's priorities are focused more on raising campaign money than on the best interests of California."
<http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/2882524p-3704151c.html>
Pickets keep Davis from forum
By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Los Angeles Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Saturday, May 25, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Gray Davis stood up more than 1,000 women Friday, while his Republican foe, Bill Simon Jr., tried to alleviate any fears they might have about his antiabortion views.
Davis infuriated many in the crowd by refusing to cross a carpenters union picket line outside the Westin Bonaventure hotel downtown, where the Women's TownHall, a group of more than 130 women's organizations, held a gubernatorial candidates' forum.
"The governor respects and is sympathetic to the rights and issues of working men and women throughout California," Sanchez said. "So I ask you, does that mean Bill Simon is disrespecting the working women of California by being here?"
Simon said he abided by his commitment to attend and chided the governor for bowing to his "big union contributors" instead of speaking to the issues women cared about.
<http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_25/b3788099.htm>
JUNE 24, 2002
FINANCE
CalPERS' Cozy Connections
RONALD BURKLE
The Los Angeles billionaire has donated to campaigns of two CalPERS board members and to Davis, and he has employed two board members. CalPERS is investing $760 million with Burkle, a money manager.
PHILIP ANGELIDES
California state treasurer; up for reelection in November. Took more than $430,000 in campaign funds from unions in past two years. Has pushed CalPERS to invest in countries meeting social criteria such as having an active labor movement.
RICHARD WOLLACK
Co-founder of Premier Pacific Vineyards, an investment firm specializing in vineyards, in which CalPERS invested $100 million in March. A longtime supporter of Governor Gray Davis, he hosted a $2,500 per head fund-raiser for him in May.
<http://www.csea4us.com/htmls/calpers02.html>
CALPERS
Their union says the pact with the state will drain money from the fund
By John Hill
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU
A union of state government scientists filed suit Monday to reverse a deal between the state and the California Public Employees' Retirement System that would help ease a looming budget short-fall. The California Association of Professional Scientists says CalPERS failed to give adequate public notice of the deal, which it says will do nothing to help PERS members while draining money from the pension fund.
The agreement allows the state to delay about $1.3 billion in contributions to the pension fund. The state will make up the difference in future years, paying 8.25 percent interest on the outstanding balance.
[I wonder where the money went.]
<http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2002/01/28/editorial4.html>
[SF Business Times]
From the January 25, 2002 print edition
Guest Opinion
Forget about Enron: biggest enemy of state workers' pensions is the governor
Terry Sutherland
Enron employees lost $1 billion in their retirement plan, according to published newspaper reports. California Gov. Gray Davis is in the process of raiding an even larger amount of $1.29 billion from the California Public Employees Retirement Fund.
This is the third of Davis' raids on CalPERS, this time to balance the budget. Over time these raids will amount to many billions siphoned off.
Why does the Enron plan receive so much attention while the CalPERS raids go unnoticed? Because the CalPERS board is allowed to operate in virtual secrecy in closed door meetings. Currently the board is packed with allies of Gray Davis: Phil Angelides, Willie Brown Jr., Marty Morgenstern and Kathleen Connell. Other elected and appointed CalPERS board members are either appointed by Davis, allied with the governor because of his power or afraid to cross the governor. State workers unions are scared to challenge the governor for many reasons. The major reason is that the governor controls their dues collection process.
President Bush has ordered a review of rules regulating pension plans. The president's panel should recommend that state plans be subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, also known as ERISA. Under ERISA, politicians would be prevented from constantly raiding the pension plans of state and local employees, teachers, and state university employees.
Both the state and the workers contribute money to CalPERS. The money is then siphoned off by politicians and an out-of- control CalPERS board
Ridgely A. Scott wrote an article in the Denver Law Review, "A Skunk at the Garden Party: Remedies for Participants in State and Local Pension Plans," in which he discusses the "politics of the moment" and provides numerous examples of the inadequate protection of pension plan members and the tax- paying public.
Not surprisingly, many of these examples are from CalPERS.
<http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020525/60300.html>
[Clinton named]
CalPERS investment with billionaire raises conflict questions
MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO ---- Newly released documents from the nation's largest pension fund show that board members voted to invest $760 million with a company after its founder gave several of them each more than $25,000 in campaign contributions.
Ronald Burkle has given more than $2 million in political contributions ---- mostly to Democrats -- -- in recent years.
During that time, he's traveled on national trade missions with Cabinet members, hosted heads of state at his Beverly Hills mansion, and developed friendships with former President Clinton, Gov. Gray Davis and others.
Now those connections are raising questions as Burkle has been given the go-ahead to invest California's pensioners' money into two funds he manages through the Yucaipa Co., Burkle's investment firm that holds stakes in food suppliers, food distributors, e-commerce and entertainment companies.
It seems like a good deal for California Public Employees Retirement System members: Yucaipa has made 45 percent over the past 16 years on $14.6 billion investments, said CalPERS spokeswoman Pat Macht. And Clinton himself has been hired by Burkle to work as an adviser on the fund.
End Note
OK, Folks, there you have it. For good reasons I have offered no conclusions. That is left to you. Ample references are provided to get you started. Go figure. Take it and run with it.
Forest Glen Durland
Saratoga, CA
11-3-02
Copyright 2002 by Forest Glen Durland