Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/560156
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Therehasbeenlotsinthe news this month: the 80th an- niversary of Social Security, the 70th anniver- sary of the end of World War II, the50th anniver- sary of the first major land as- sault by the U.S. in Viet Nam, the 25th anniver- sary of the start of the Gulf War, and the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Ka- trina, among others. In spite of those historic an- niversaries, I found it very en- ticing to write about Tehama County's burgeoning comedy team of Williams and Nielsen, a team that needs to learn some new material. They have been, that is, their committees, have been fined by the Fair Political Prac- tices Commission, and those fines must surely be an em- barrassment. Maybe the duo hopes that their local stat- ure will allow them to use the same old trite lines politicians have used for ages. Perhaps they believe in the "any excuse in a storm" approach to poli- tics; they certainly have mas- tered the "point the finger" posture. I imagine lots of folks are laughing at both their gaffes and their excuses. As a result of the embar- rassment, the town of Ger- ber most likely will not see as much of its local politician, that is, technically its resi- dent, State Senator James Wi- ley Nielsen in the near future; most will not notice the differ- ence because they are becom- ing used to his prolonged ab- sences from his "home town" even though he swears he takes regular care of his cats. Now, however, I am sure that he is too shamed to show his face to both his alleged neigh- bors and his cats after be- ing fined for money launder- ing and accepting an improper gift from a lobbyist. In 2010 Nielsen was the largest gas spending legisla- tor in the entire state, charg- ing us tax payers over $10,410; based on state mileage allow- ances for 2009-2010 he would have driven about 21,000 miles on state business. The Citizens Compensation Commission tried to limit car allowances for state legislators to $300 per month, but it was over- ruled by the Attorney Gen- eral. In February 2014 Nielsen claimed 5,157 miles driven on government business and was reimbursed with $2,377, ac- cording to the LA Times. At an average speed of 50 mph that would amount to over 100 hours on the road. Pretty good for such a short month. With all that time on the road it is no wonder that he was rarely seen in Gerber. Nielsen has been active in California politics for about 40 years; he is a professional politician who knows how to work within the system and its regulations; the dispute about his residence in Gerber was finessed and is hardly even spoken of now, and he used all the tools at his com- mand to put a lid on Tehama County resident Don Bird's attempt to disprove his res- idency by claiming Bird was stalking him; Nielsen got a restraining order against Bird. CBS News reported: "$23,000 in fines against Sen. Jim Nielsen, Taxpayers for Nielsen, the Tehama County GOP, and campaign accounts for former Assembly candi- date Bob Williams for alleg- edly funneling contributions through the county party from Nielsen to Williams' cam- paign, for accepting over-the- limit donations and for receiv- ing an unlawful gift." Other news media covered the mat- ter, including our own Red Bluff Daily News and the Los Angeles Times. Nielsen was fined a total of $10,000 by the Fair Political Practices Commission for two violations of the rules. One was "for knowingly accepting a gift of tickets to a pro bas- ketball game arranged by lob- bying firm Sloat, Higgins, Jen- sen, & Associates" accord- ing to the Los Angeles Times." Lawmakers are not allowed to accept gifts arranged by lob- byists. A spokesperson for Nielsen, Charles Bell, said, without even a hint of a blush, "the FPPC ac- knowledges that the NBA gift was correctly disclosed by the Nielsen committee, but was subject to a new interpreta- tion of the gift rules." Bell's "ex- planation" is not a very good excuse for a career politician, one who has consistently pro- claimed himself a law and or- der person with a no tolerance for wrongdoers. Ignorance of the law is no excuse accord- ing to many legal experts, an opinion that the law and order Nielsen has probably echoed over his career. Part of Nielsen's fine was for money laundering; this may or may not have been another ex- ample of professed ignorance of the rules, but in any case, it has to be equally embarrass- ing for a career politician to have his money laundering aired in public. According to CBS News: "The complaint says Nielsen, R-Gerber, made several con- tributions to the Tehama GOP that were understood to be in- tended to support Williams' campaign. Four days after he reported giving $15,000, the party paid Nielsen's political firm $13,000 for radio ads for Williams." The balance of the total of $23,000 in fines was against the Tehama County GOP and William's campaign for these activities. Accompanying Nielsen in this mess is the locally failed candidate for the state assem- bly and current Board of Su- pervisor member Bob Wil- liams. Not to be outdone, Wil- liams came up with another trite and well worn "explana- tion:" the controversy was po- litically motivated. This would seem to imply that the ac- tions of Nielsen and Williams had nothing to do with polit- ical motivation, nor did his running for office, or accept- ing Nielsen's money or using Nielsen as a mentor. It may be Williams was say- ing that the law would not have been enforced had it not been for political motivation. Most of us believe that the laws were put on the books to be enforced. Of course the entire brou- haha is a result of political motivation on the part of the parties involved. The electorate deserves bet- ter. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Trite Tehama twosome takes state stage Cartoonist's take By Laurel Rosenhall The oil industry helped Democrat Jim Cooper win his first election to the Legislature last year. Now it's seeking his help fighting Democratic lead- ers in the state Capitol. Cooper is one of a handful of potential swing votes the oil industry is targeting as it tries to kill a controversial proposal to cut in half the amount of petroleum California vehicles use by 2030. Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other oil and gas produc- ers gave Cooper more than $34,000 during his campaign to represent an area south of Sacramento in the state As- sembly. The industry teamed up with other interest groups on an independent campaign that spent another $1.2 million to benefit him. In recent weeks, Cooper's face has appeared on Inter- net ads asking voters to sign a petition to "help" him vote against Senate Bill 350, a high- stakes attempt by Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D- Los Angeles) to put California at the global forefront in fight- ing climate change. Though the bill has passed the state Senate, it faces a tougher chal- lenge in the Assembly, where the oil industry is applying considerable pressure on a handful of legislators like Coo- per who will vote on the bill by Sept. 11. Cooper has not taken a posi- tion and declined an interview for this article. In a statement, however, he said he is con- cerned that the bill could "dis- proportionately impact low-in- come communities in my dis- trict." Other legislators targeted with online advertisements from the California Drivers Al- liance — an organization spon- sored by the Western States Petroleum Association — in- clude Democratic Assembly members Cheryl Brown from San Bernardino; Ken Cooley from the Sacramento area and Reggie Jones-Sawyer from Los Angeles, as well as Republi- can Assemblywoman Catha- rine Baker, who represents an East Bay district that includes Chevron's global headquarters and a voter base that leans Democratic. Pressure is also coming from the other side. A group backed by billionaire climate change activist Tom Steyer has run ads in key markets thank- ing legislators who voted "yes" when the Senate passed the measure. Steyer's group, Next- Gen Climate Action, paid Uni- vision to host a special half- hour program about the dan- gers of climate change. Other environmental groups that support the bill have joined the publicity campaign. Assemblywoman Brown saw it as she drove home Saturday. Pulling onto her street, she was greeted by dozens of Si- erra Club lawn signs support- ing SB 350. That night, as her husband surfed around online, he came across the oil industry ad urging Brown to vote no. Brown hasn't decided how she'll vote, but after the bar- rage of advertisements on Sat- urday, she went to church Sun- day morning and asked con- gregants to pray for her to make the right decision. "I know God wants us to have clean air, but I also know he wants people to go to work," Brown said. "So I don't know where that's going to fall." De León, the bill's author, criticized the oil industry ads at a press conference this week as a "major campaign of fear mongering." Spots are on TV and radio as well. The ad blitz from both sides means that millions of dollars will likely be spent this sum- mer to influence a landmark vote. How much? The state's weak disclosure rules make it impossible for the public to get the complete picture. Interest groups file re- ports each quarter stating how much they paid lobbyists, which bills they worked on, and how they entertained pub- lic officials. But the reports in- clude a catch-all "other" cat- egory where lobbying groups can lump together numerous expenses without providing any details. Spending on pa- per clips and phone bills can legally be combined with ad buys and TV sponsorships. All the public sees is a total of the amount spent. For example, Steyer's group paid lobbyists about $58,000 in the second quarter of this year. But it spent more than 10 times as much in the catch-all "other" category: $641,202. On what? NextGen spokeswoman Suzanne Henkels said it went toward "citizen engagement efforts… through a variety of mediums including field, paid media and direct mail." The Western States Petro- leum Association spent nearly $8.9 million on lobbying in Sacramento last year. About 81 percent of that was reported in the "other" category. A spokes- woman declined to say how the money was spent. Timing also clouds trans- parency. Because lobby- ing groups report quarterly, money spent on the ads we're seeing now won't be made public until November 1, weeks after the Legislature has voted on the bill. Contrast that with Califor- nia's rules for reporting the flow of campaign money dur- ing election time. In the three months leading up to an elec- tion, candidates have to re- port contributions of at least $1,000 every 24 hours so the public can follow the money. It's a problem that's being explored by the state's Fair Political Practices Commis- sion. Jodi Remke, chair of the Commission, said in an in- terview that she's working to overcome technical hurdles and hopes to bring her com- mission a plan in January. "We cannot stay at the sta- tus quo," Remke said. "With- out more detailed informa- tion, all we've really done is identify the big players in politics but we're not seeing who or what they're playing with." Meanwhile, expect more ads. CALmatters is a nonprofit journalism venture dedicated to explaining state policies and politics. CALmatters Ad blitz heats up climate change fight Ignorance of the law is no excuse according to many legal experts, an opinion that the law and order Nielsen has probably echoed over his career. Joe Harrop Timing also clouds transparency. Because lobbying groups report quarterly, money spent on the ads we're seeing now won't be made public until November 1, weeks after the Legislature has voted on the bill. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, August 22, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5