<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> <div><blockquote class="summary" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; ">Photo of Governor Jerry Brown at the inauguration on January 5, 2015, by Dan Bacher. <br></blockquote><center style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; "><div class="media" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: center; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 12px; "><img width="263" height="395" alt="jerry_brown_1_5_15_.jpg " style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " src="cid:6EF92ED1-E0DB-4C85-BB37-401B07134D48"><br></div></center><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "><strong>jerry_brown_1_5_15_.jpg</strong></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/27/1380693/-Big-Money-interests-dumped-21-8-million-into-Prop-1-campaign">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/27/1380693/-Big-Money-interests-dumped-21-8-million-into-Prop-1-campaign</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6">Big Money interests dumped $21.8 million into Yes on Prop. 1 campaign</font></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">by Dan Bacher</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal">The recent admission by the Brown administration that it could use money from Proposition 1, the water bond, to pay for "habitat mitigation" linked to the construction and operation of the massive Delta tunnels is no surprise, especially when you consider the Big Money interests that dumped $21,820,691 into the campaign.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">The contributors are a who’s who of Big Money interests in California, including corporate agribusiness groups, billionaires, timber barons, Big Oil, the tobacco industry and the California Chamber of Commerce. There is no doubt that these wealthy corporate interests are expecting a big return for their "investment" in the corrupt "play to pay" politics that rules California today, including the construction of the twin tunnels and new dams.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Richard Stapler, spokesman for the California Department of Natural Resources, "acknowledged that the money [for delta habitat restoration] could conceivably come from Proposition 1, the $7.5 billion water bond that California passed last year,” according to Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle.(<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Activists-decry-plan-to-cut-habitat-aid-from-6212404.php">http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Activists-decry-plan-to-cut-habitat-aid-from-6212404.php</a>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Delta advocates slammed Governor Brown for breaking his campaign promise that bond money wouldn't be used to mitigate the environmental damage caused by the tunnels, a $67 billion project designed to export Sacramento River water to agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and steam injection operations.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">"It is outrageous that the governor would break the promise he made to the people of California that their taxes would not be used to mitigate damage from the tunnels,” said Restore the Delta Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. "Now he is signaling that bond monies will support mega-growers like Stewart Resnick, who plans to expand almond production by 50 percent over the next five years." (<a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/04/23/is-jerry-brown-breaking-his-prop-1-campaign-promise">http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/04/23/is-jerry-brown-breaking-his-prop-1-campaign-promise</a>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">And guess who was one of the contributors to the Prop. 1 campaign? Yes, Stewart Resnick, the Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoon, owner of Paramount Farms and largest orchard fruit grower in the world, contributed $150,000. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Resnick and his wife, Lynda, have been instrumental in promoting campaigns to eviscerate Endangered Species Act protections for Central Valley Chinook salmon and Delta smelt populations and to build the fish-killing peripheral tunnels - and have made millions off reselling environmental water to the public. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Corporate agribusiness interests, the largest users of federal and state water project water exported through the Delta pumping facilities, contributed $850,000 to the campaign, including the $150,000 donated by Resnick. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">The California Farm Bureau Federation contributed $250,000, the Western Growers Service Association donated $250,000 and California Cotton Alliance contributed $200,000. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">The largest individual donor in the Yes on Prop. 1 campaign was Sean Parker, who contributed $1 million to the campaign. Parker is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who cofounded the file-sharing computer service Napster and served as the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also cofounded Plaxo, Causes, and Airtime. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Four members of the Fisher family, who own the controversial Gap stores, collectively donated $1.5 million to the Yes. on Prop. 1 and Prop. 2 campaign. They also own the Mendocino Redwood Company and Humboldt Redwood Company, formerly the Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO), more than half a million acres of redwood forest lands in total. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Doris F. Fisher contributed $499,000, John J. Fisher $351,000, Robert J. Fisher $400,000 and William S. Fisher $250,000. The Gap become notorious among labor and human rights advocates for employing sweatshop labor in the Third World to produce its clothes. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Aera Energy LLC, a company jointly owned by affiliates of Shell and ExxonMobil, contributed $250,000 to the Yes on Proposition 1 and 2 campaign, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Aera Energy LLC is one of California's largest oil and gas producers, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the state's production, according to the company’s website. (<a href="http://www.aeraenergy.com/who-we-are.asp">http://www.aeraenergy.com/who-we-are.asp</a>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Tobacco giant Philip Morris also donated $100,000 to Governor Brown’s ballot measure committee established to support Propositions 1 and 2. On October 20, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) called on the governor to return that money. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">A total of eleven ballot measure campaign committees registered in support Proposition 1 and 2, according to Ballotpedia (<a href="http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Water_Bond_(2014)">http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Water_Bond_(2014)</a>)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">The committees and money raised are below:</div><div class="MsoNormal">• California Business Political Action Committee, Sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce: $1,169,500<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">• Wetlands Conservation Committee, Sponsored by Ducks Unlimited, Audubon California and The Nature Conservancy, Yes on Prop. 1: $265,000 </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Conservation Action Fund - Yes on Proposition 1 and 2 - Sponsored by Conservation Organizations: $1,042,526<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Sac. Valley Water & Rice for Prop 1: $72,356<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Brown; Yes on Props 1 and 2 A Bipartisan Coalition of Business, Labor, Republicans, Democrats and Governor: $17,690,658<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Think Long Committee, Inc., Sponsored by Nicolas Berggruen Institute Trust, Supporting Propositions 1 & 2 (Non-Profit 501(C)(4)): $250,000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Western Plant Health Association, Supporting Propositions 1 and 2 (Non-Profit 501 (C) (6)): $100,000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• NRDC Action Fund California Ballot Measures Committee - Yes on Prop. 1: $12,653 </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Southern California District Council of Laborers Issues PAC: $203,662<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coaltion Issues PAC - Yes on Props 1 and 2: $842,896<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">• The California Conservation Campaign: $171,440</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">These committees raised a total of $21,820,691 and spent a total of $19,538,153.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">In contrast, Proposition 1 opponents raised only $101,149 and spent $86,347 during the campaign. To put that in perspective, note that just one big grower, Stewart Resnick, contributed $150,000 to the Prop. 1 campaign, more than all of the opponents combined. And Resnick wasn’t even one of the top 23 donors, with Sean Parker being the largest individual donor at $1,000,000!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal">Top 23 Contributors to Prop. 1 and 2 Campaign </div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Brown for Governor 2014<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$5,196,529</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sean Parker<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$1,000,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">L. John Doerr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$875,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">California Alliance for Jobs - Rebuild California Committee<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$533,750</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Nature Conservancy<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$518,624</div><div class="MsoNormal">California Hospitals Committee<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$500,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Doris F. Fisher<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$499,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Health Net<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$445,600</div><div class="MsoNormal">Robert Fisher<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$400,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">351,000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$351,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Area Energy LLC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">California American Council of Engineering Companies<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">California Farm Bureau Federation<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dignity Health<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Kaiser Permamente<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Issues PAC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Reed Hastings<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">SW Regional Council Of Carpenters<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Think Long Committee, Inc.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">Western Growers Service Corporation<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000</div><div class="MsoNormal">William Fisher<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>$250,000 </div></div></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Geneva"><br></font></div></body></html>