Petaluma builders' campaign letter draws fire

<p>Two of Petaluma's most prominent builders, one of whom was behind the downtown theater district transformation, are jumping into the middle of the November City Council campaign by soliciting funds for four candidates.</p><p>Bill White of Basin Street Properties, which lured high-tech companies to the city and his Telecom Valley office parks, and Delco Builders president Doyle Heaton sent out more than 100 letters asking people to support a more business-friendly council.</p><p>The solicitation has raised the suspicions of a former city councilwoman who wants the city attorney to investigate whether the fundraising effort adheres to the city's campaign finance ordinance.</p><p>For more than 30 years, White and Heaton said in the letter, they have tried "to strengthen the economic vitality of Petaluma" with their home and office projects. But the current council majority, they said, has run the city into the ground financially.</p><p>"We have never seen a city council leadership have more disregard for the economic well-being of the city and those who live and work here," the letter states. "The current majority on the council have systematically stripped the city of its financial revenues and reserves and the local economy of its ability to create new jobs."</p><p>In efforts to reduce costs during the economic slowdown, the city dismantled the planning department, privatized some city services, asked employees to take pay cuts and laid off dozens of workers. The current budget will exhaust millions of dollars held in reserve by the middle of next year.</p><p>The letter asks voters to send in checks to support the campaigns of Jeff Mayne for mayor and Chris Albertson, Ray Johnson and Mike Harris for council.</p><p>The mayoral seat and three council seats are on the Nov. 2 ballot. Four candidates are running for mayor and nine for council.</p><p>All four candidates endorsed in the letter are considered more receptive to development proposals than the current council majority.</p><p>The current four-member council majority, whose members consider themselves "smart growth" proponents, require development proposals to comply with strict guidelines for approval.</p><p>After the Aug. 24 letter arrived in Petaluma mailboxes, former councilwoman Janice Cader-Thompson began raising questions about White's and Heaton's efforts.</p><p>Cader-Thompson, who supports the current council's direction, fired off several e-mails to city leaders and others, contending that White and Heaton may have run afoul of the city's election law.</p><p>She suggested the solicitation may trigger the city's campaign finance law, which requires disclosure of any committee making independent expenditures on behalf of a candidate or anyone who sends out a campaign mailer to more than 200 recipients.</p><p>The letter asks recipients to send as much as $200 per person, the maximum allowed by city law, to White and Heaton, and an envelope was provided for that purpose. The letter states the checks will be sent to the appropriate candidates.</p><p>In an interview, White said the letter was nothing more than an informal request to his friends and associates, no different than if he were to host a fundraising event.</p><p>"The intent was that it was a simple fundraising letter," he said. "We're not a committee."</p><p>City Attorney Eric Danly said he hasn't been asked by the city manager or council to investigate the issue. The county District Attorney's Office is the agency charged with enforcing the ordinance.</p><p>Cader-Thompson said White isn't playing fair with his mass mailing.</p><p>"By financing these candidates, Bill White is attempting to create a puppet council for his beckoning," she said.</p><p>The endorsed candidates said they didn't ask White and Heaton to write the letter on their behalf.</p><p>White said he and Heaton will spend "considerable effort" to raise money "for those candidates who support job growth."</p>