Lessons
Learned by Rick Caruso, Elected Officials and Carlsbad Voters
Signatures
have been validated on a referendum overturning Carlsbad's city council approval
of a shopping center on the shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon. It's time to
reflect on lessons learned from the developer's failed attempt to bypass city voters,
the normal review and approval process, and the California Environmental
Quality Act.
When
L.A. developer Rick Caruso approached city officials three years ago, they urged
him to build community support for his plan. They must have assured him 48
acres of land adjacent to the pristine lagoon would be the perfect place for a shopping
center.
In
courting the developer, however, they may not have told him about the 2006 Battle of the
Propositions. Prop E, prohibiting all commercial
development there, failed to pass by just 56 votes.
The
billionaire developer began his campaign to build community support by having
his company, Caruso Affiliated, join the Lagoon Foundation as a deep pockets contributing
partner. One of his development managers earned a seat on the AHLF Board of
Directors.
I
suspect it was Caruso's generosity that led to the Lagoon Foundation Board
chair's signature on the Agua Hedionda
South Shore Initiative. Adding the signatures of a former chair of the
Chamber of Commerce and a former city planning commissioner completed the ruse
of a "citizen-led" initiative.
Caruso
probably figured buying the signatures of 15 percent of city voters would be
cheaper and less risky than an election campaign. The Citizens for North County's all-volunteer army of referendum signature
gatherers proved the out-of-towner underestimated the locals.
On
May 12 the Carlsbad city clerk received the developer's "citizens
initiative" proposal. Three days later, Sean Welch, an attorney with a
San Rafael, California law firm created the Preserving Carlsbad Open Space the Right Way, California
Domestic Corporation.
Caruso
invested in a signature gathering drive second to none, recognizing it would
require lots of money and plenty of deception. His campaign to build a mall
twice the size of the Carlsbad Premium
Outlets would be disguised as an environmentally-friendly grassroots
crusade to save the Strawberry Fields.
The
developer's door-to-door signature contractors, posing as local residents,
carried petitions with the bogus promise the initiative would be submitted "directly
to the voters." Mailboxes were flooded with promotional materials.
A video
of children romping through long grass in open fields splashed across social
media and TV screens, with only glimpses of a "pedestrian-friendly retail
promenade," the name chosen for the Nordstrom-anchored mall.
From January 1 to June 30 Caruso
Affiliated donated $2.8 million to the Preserving
Carlsbad Open Space the Right Way, Inc.
The fledgling company spent $2.6 million during those six months.
The small print accompanying its marketing materials read, Paid for by Preserving Carlsbad Open Space
the Right Way, with major funding by Caruso Affiliated. Financial
disclosure documents reveal, however, Caruso Affiliated was the only donor paying for those mailers and
TV ads.
Those being asked to sign petitions
might not be so eager if they knew the only benefactor of the campaign was also
its prime beneficiary. Paid for entirely by
Caruso Affiliated could be a turnoff.
Borrowing from the Bard, methinks Mister Caruso understood that a developer, unlike
the rose, under any other name smells a lot better.
Here's a sample of vendors profiting
from Caruso's campaign under the alias, Preserving
Carlsbad Open Space the Right Way.
$541,000
to Waterfront
Strategies, Washington DC, a media buying firm.
$400, 000 to The Baughman Company
of San Francisco, "the top creative persuasion mail firm
in the business."
$400,000
for Television ads by local affiliates.
$40,000
to Method Campaign Services, Los
Angeles. "Our high quality signature gatherers receive thorough training
to guarantee that you attain the numbers you need."
$13,000
to the Callidus Consulting Group, San
Diego. Matt Hall and Michael Schumacher are among their partial sampling list
of clients. Financial disclosure forms show Hall paid them $4,000 in his 2014
mayoral race, and Michael Schumacher $1,750 in his city council campaign.
Curiously, Preserving Carlsbad Open Space
is not in their list of clients.
Of
the $2.6 million spent on Caruso's initiative campaign, Carlsbad businesses got
about $30,000.
By
comparison, the truly citizen-led referendum drive spent about $9,000, funded
entirely by individual donations and fund raisers, to collect enough signatures
to overturn the city council's decision to refuse to put Caruso's corporate-led
project up for a vote, as promised.
Lessons
learned?
1.
Caruso Affiliated, you can't buy Carlsbad voters.
2.
City Council, don't underestimate the power of the people.
3.
Carlsbad voters, stay awake, do your duty as citizens, and keep watch on your elected
officials.
The Riehl World pledges to do
its part.
