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By Barbara Wood
Special to the Almanac
Atherton residents should probably be forgiven if they were confused by a flurry of last-minute campaign materials they received last week, including a letter from the mayor sent to refute an earlier mailing by the Atherton Police Officers Association, which has now prepared a letter refuting the mayor’s letter, adding the claim that he wrongly spent taxpayer money to send his letter.
Opponents of Measure F, which would approve locating a new library in Holbrook-Palmer Park, also sent out a last-minute email suggesting the public employees’ union representing county librarians had secretly funded the campaigns of the Yes on F library measure and of City Council candidate Denise Kupperman.
Both Ms. Kupperman and Yes on F officials strongly deny the allegations in the email.
At its Oct. 17 meeting, the Atherton council authorized Mayor Widmer to respond to campaign materials from the Atherton Police Officers Association Political Action Committee. The APOA had endorsed council candidates Elizabeth Lewis, the incumbent, and Cary Wiest, and sent out mailings and an automated phone call to residents.
The recorded call, from APOA president Dave Metzger, said, in part: “your police department could eventually be outsourced to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department depending on the current and future actions of your city council.”
The council voted unanimously to allow Mayor Bill Widmer to prepare a press release with the council’s response to the APOA mailings.
Mayor Widmer did prepare a press release, but a copy of it was also mailed to every town resident.
This riled up the APOA, which prepared a letter in response, dated Oct. 29, that said, in part: “Astonishingly, Mayor Widmer took liberties with his authorization. He chose to send a letter to every resident with a “tit for tat” response to our campaign information. He was only authorized to publish a press release. Somehow he unilaterally chose to spend thousands of scarce tax payer dollars in response to political campaign messaging.”
Mayor Widmer said he did not send out the press release. “I’m not allowed to send anything out,” he said. “It all goes out through the city manager, and he conferred with the city attorney. Obviously they felt it was OK to send the letter out.”
“We thought it was important to get the message out,” Mayor Widmer said, adding he does not know how much the mailing cost the town.
The allegations about the funding for the library and Ms. Kupperman’s campaigns came in an email to those on the Athertonians Yahoo email group, which is not related to the town publication, “The Athertonian.”
“Could the SEIU, the public employees’ union, be secretly funding both the Kupperman and the Yes on F campaigns to win itself fully-protected library jobs in an over-sized library in our park?” the email begins.
It also asks: “Could Yes on F or Kupperman be using reserved JPA Library Tax Funds?” The new library will be paid for with tax funding set aside for the Atherton library as part of a joint powers agreement with other county libraries.
The email used figures from the last campaign financing statements submitted to the state by both the Kupperman and the Yes of F campaigns, which show more money spent than raised, with most of their bills not yet paid.
Ms. Kupperman said the allegations are “just egregious — not based on any fact.” While her campaign had spent more money than it had taken in, she made a personal loan of $12,000 to the campaign last week, she said.
“I am fundraising for my campaign,” Ms. Kupperman said. “I just loaned my campaign money. I was hoping to get more contributions.”
She said she has received “no donation from the SEIU, and in fact has not received any donations from “anyone but individuals.”
Ginny Nile, treasurer for the Yes on F campaign, said: “There is absolutely no money from any of the unions,” nor from the library fund.
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Yes on F reported spending $15,000.00 more than it raised. Who will make up that difference? Did anyone guarantee the creditors? Should that have been reported? I don’t think the SEIU will fund it, but waiting until after election day to disclose is questionable.
Isn’t it rich that the Didi Fisher/Sherman Hall III/Valerie Gardner brigade are complaining about a “librarian’s union” donating money to Denise Kupperman and the YES on campaign (when it isn’t happening), yet the POLICE UNION / TEAMSTERS / APOA is literally buying this election by donating thousands to Cary Wiest and Elizabeth Lewis.
I guess a librarian’s union is much stronger than the brute force cops who are part of the Teamster’s APOA. Funny!
I noticed several of the APOA signs endorsing their favorite 2 candidates are flat on the ground the last couple of days.
The Almanac quoted “Yes on F Officials”, but did not list names. Who?
Why did they spend $15,000.00 they do not have? Outside of the major donors they have only raised $2,100.00. Who is going to donate the rest?
Its amazing how our town complicates every election. Make it simple, vote against the library and ball park and dismiss all the noise about how we really need these things. You won’t find anyone who is politically pure and untainted, so vote for an incumbent and a younger newcomer without too much taint.
Maybe some of the same tooth fairies who might donate 20 million for the new police station/admin building will want to pony up for the new traffic light and the campaign ads for the library. This is Atherton anything is possible.
My librarian can beat up your cop.
The Save Our Park people have reported that the Kupperman and the Yes on F Campaigns have spent $10,000 to $20,000 more than they have reported in donations and are running similiar marketing campaigns. That is the fact. The Public has a right to know who will fund the remaining two-thirds of the Yes on F Campaign. That question has not been answered.
Kupperman has since loaned her campaign $12,000 and said she and others will have to donate more to cover the Yes on F Campaign’s $15,000.00 deficit. She is the largest donor to the Yes on F Campaign at $1,000.00 and is the Chair of the Committee to put the Library in the Park.
Retiring Council Member McKeithen a veteran of many campaigns has donated $500.00 to the Yes campaign and $100 to Ms. Kupperman’s campaign.
These are facts. Rather than accept the lackk of funds raised as another sign that the majority of residents do not want a county library in the park, Yes on F leaders have spent an extra $15,000.00 they do not have to hopefully get the votes they need to pass. Campaign ethics require disclosing who will fund that difference.
The fact is the public Yes vote on Measure F would be less if Yes on F had only spent the $7,000.00 it reports to have raised.
The questions are: 1. What is the reason Yes on F has not disclosed who was going to fund their $15,000.00 debt? and who are they?
Mark Twain said “Figures don’t ie but liars figure.” Widmer’s questionable use of town funds to respond to the APOA’s endorsement of Lewis & Wiest. This response supported,in reality, the 3-2 voting block of himself, Dobbie, & McKeithen that has plaguedtrue progress. The fact that Ms. Kupperman is self-funding the Yes on F Campaign is another example of the “New Mandarins” seeking to impose their will on the town without honest vetting of the town’s issues. For example the hundreds of meetings which turned to represent only 1% of Atherton & was mostly composed of pro-park attendees. Considering the manipulations of scheduling agenda items, placement of meetings, the rushed addition of two more ballot measures without adequate explanation & discussion,biased reporting in this newspaper,it is no surprise that suspicion is running high. We need a master plan. We need money to keep our police local but most importantly we need representative government. Elizabeth Lewis & Carey Wiest will “overcome” the “Mandarin” voting block that Kupperman & Conlon would be a part of and return transparency and fair dealings back to our town government.
I can only say that the “Is Atherton About to be Checkmated” is an amusing (very well written) piece of fiction.
If you have questions you can call me at 650.704.1693.
I encourage you to review the facts, vote how you feel – and enjoy Election Day.
Sincerely,
Denise Kupperman
74 Atherton Avenue
Atherton, Ca 94027
Tel.no.: 650.704-1693 (cell)
Tel.no.: 650.326.2265 (home)
What with all the bickering, mailing, phone calling and general childish behaviors I don’t really want to vote for anyone.
Please let this end soon. I can’t bear to think about it anymore.
Dear Denise,
Thanks for this response and while you invite calling I wonder if you might answer to a larger forum? Would you care to comment on the quality of this fiction that you issued regarding your receipt of pro bono campaign services valued well over $60,000, so that people can truly review the “facts.” Some of us think you are being completely “played” by the SEIU:
3. My political adviser, Mark Capitolo, is indeed helping both
campaigns get out our messages. But there are a few things you should
know. He is doing it pro-bono. He is a political consultant by trade
but is also the nephew of a Jesuit priest who taught my husband at Bellermine in
the 1960s. He is a native of San Mateo County, born and raised in Daly
City and a graduate of College of San Mateo. He is also the consultant
to my dear friend Marie Gilmore, the first African American mayor of
the City of Alameda. His work for SEIU in the past was related to public relations for workers in Oakland and Stockton.
Ms. Kupperman,
Thanks for your offer and lots of respect for joining the discussion, but it would serve all better if you printed your answers here.
There is a new show on CNN called “No Talking Points” please focus your answer on the questions.
I am not concerned about the union funding Measure F or your campaign, but I do have have other comments and questions that the Checkmate piece has raised.
Are you one of the Officials of Yes on F? Who are the others?
Yes on F reported spending $15,000.00 more than it raised. Who will make up that difference?
Have you considered giving more money to Yes on F? How much?
Given the difficulty you are having raising money for your campaign and the dificulty Yes on F is having rasing money, why keep keep spending so much money for Yes on F?
There is no fiction to the fact that the two campaigns you are involved in have spent more than $20,000.00 they do/did not have or have not reported. Or am I missing something?
Yesterday the posts by “Question on Facts” ; and “Campaign Finances” were removed due to “Terms of Use” and “Speculation”, I am reposting them with edits that hopefully meet Terms of Use and are not Speculation.
Officials at No on F sent out an email with a large amount of evidence. Ms. Kupperman has stated on this blog and in the story that the No on F people sent out false information.
If someone wants to post the evidence on this blog and ask her a question, that should be allowed.
Posted by question on facts, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, 23 minutes ago
Dear Denise,
Thanks for this response and while you invite calling I wonder if you might answer to a larger forum? Would you care to comment on this paragraph from an email you sent out recently?
Ms. Kupperman wrote:
“3. My political adviser, Mark Capitolo, is indeed helping both
campaigns get out our messages. But there are a few things you should
know. He is doing it pro-bono. He is a political consultant by trade
but is also the nephew of a Jesuit priest who taught my husband at Bellermine in the 1960s. He is a native of San Mateo County, born and raised in Daly City and a graduate of College of San Mateo. He is also the consultant to my dear friend Marie Gilmore, the first African American mayor of the City of Alameda. His work for SEIU in the past was related to public relations for workers in Oakland and Stockton.”
Report Objectionable Content
No on F’s email brought attention that Ms. Kupperman’s campaign and the Yes on F Campaign were receiving free help from people with Union Connections and the Library Union will benefit from having a large library in Atherton.
Is that fact or fiction?
Ms. Kupperman’s email response supports that the No on F campaign is not sending out fiction. Her campaign and Yes on F are working together and she is involved in the Yes on F campaign.
——————————————————————————–
Posted by Campaign finances, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, 0 minutes ago
Ms. Kupperman,
Thanks for your offer and lots of respect for joining the discussion, but it would serve all better if you printed your answers here.
Are you one of the Officials of Yes on F? Who are the others?
Yes on F reported spending $15,000.00 more than it raised. Who will make up that difference?
Have you considered giving more money to Yes on F? How much?
Why keep keep spending so much money for Yes on F, when there is $15,000 in debt?
These questions seem fair and not based on “Speculation”. Why not let Ms. Kupperman answer?
The reason that she will not answer is because Rene Batti does not like the questions and Denise will not see them.
I’d still like to understand two things about Cary Wiest. One, how he is funding his campaign. How much money came in from cops, and how much from big real estate?
Second, Cary bought his home in Atherton for $2.3M in November 2009 from Stanford University (!). This home is worth at least $4.0M. What’s going on here? I smell big real estate interests. This home is on a 1.3 acre lot. Just acre, land value alone, has never been worth that low in Atherton in recent years.
The big story in this election that no one has talked about is this house.
Cary Wiest’s loyalties are owed, and not to Atherton residents.
More questoins on facts asks “I’d still like to understand two things about Cary Wiest. One, how he is funding his campaign. How much money came in from cops, and how much from big real estate?
I do not know who big real estate is but the list of his contributors is public knowledge on form 460 and the list is individauls and I believe a personal loan. I do know he has not gotten any money from the Atherton Police Officers Association, just an endorsement.
I have no knowledge about his house purchase but it sounds the price was normal for the area.
“I do know he has not gotten any money from the Atherton Police Officers Association, just an endorsement.”
A total lie since you’re not counting the money the APOA has spent on his behalf to campaign for him.
Totally normal for the area? Can I buy 1.3 acres for $2.3M? Forget about the house, tear down is ok. Show me a comp.