Sam Liccardo held a press conference Wednesday calling on the South Bay Labor Council and San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to return political contributions received from the city's two card clubs. The San Jose councilman and mayoral candidate was joined by former Mayor Tom McEnery and Councilmember David Pandori.
Casino M8trix and Bay 101 are prohibited from directly giving money to political candidates, but they can contribute to entities that support initiatives and candidates. In the current election cycle, both casinos gave $25,000 apiece to the South Bay Labor Council's Committee on Political Education (COPE). M8trix also gave $2,000 to the chamber's political action committee (PAC).
"These efforts violate the spirit of the law and need to stop now,” Liccardo said in a statement.
Last week, M8trix was accused of playing a $119 million shell game to avoid paying taxes to the city and contributing money to a local nonprofit's anti-gambling outreach efforts. The allegations appear to be a motivating factor for today's press conference.
“We’ve long known that card clubs try to influence elections and government decision-making," Liccardo said. "That’s why the city banned direct contributions from card clubs to candidates. Now we know that one of the biggest clubs is actively under investigation and that both Casino M8trix and Bay 101 have tried to get around the city’s ban by donating indirectly through political groups. These efforts violate the spirit of the law and need to stop now.”
Liccardo has been bullish since accusations against M8trix went public, but he may have jumped the gun in suggesting the casino should be shut down within 30 days if it doesn't pay restitution for money allegedly withheld. With the accusations still being just that—although they don't look good—not everyone is on board. Councilman Pete Constant called Liccardo's proposal "wholly inappropriate" and a stunt for the mayor's race.
Digging into the details there's a few things worth noting here:
1. Liccardo is running for mayor and the SBLC's committee supports county Supervisor Dave Cortese's bid for the seat. This isn't a secret, but it obviously plays into Liccardo's decision to demand $50,000 be returned. The money given to the chamber is paltry by comparison. But...
2. The chamber could be on the hook for far more than just $2,000 if the demand to recall all casino campaign contributions goes back further than just a few months. A source with knowledge of M8trix's political activity told San Jose Inside that the card club has given $135,500 to the chamber since 2009. The attorney general's allegations against the casino cover the time period of 2009-2013.
Should those contributions be out of bounds as well?
While the chamber hasn't endorsed anyone, it supports ABC (anyone but Cortese) candidates. Assuming Cortese makes it through the primary, the chamber would absolutely endorse Liccardo if he advanced to the runoff. Liccardo's demand that the chamber PAC return $2,000 could rub some folks the wrong way, but calling on more than $135,000 to be returned would certainly rub them raw. (Clarification: Campaign disclosure forms show that $11,000 was given to the PAC from 2010 through 2013. According to a source, $124,500 went directly to the chamber during this same time period. One could argue this money still has political ramifications.)
More than likely, though, neither the chamber nor the SBLC will return the money, as they are under no obligation and such a precedent could be a slippery slope.
The following is a recent breakdown of the more recent political contributions made by San Jose card clubs, according to the Liccardo campaign:
- On March 7, 2014, Casino M8trix donated $1000 to the San José Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. Source: CA Form 460, Recipient Committee Campaign Statement, filed 3/20/14
- On April 4, 2014, Casino M8trix donated $25,000 to the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education (COPE). Source: CA Form 496, Independent Expenditure Report, filed 4/10/14
- On April 11, 2014, Bay 101 donated $25,000 to the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education (COPE). Source: CA Form 496, Independent Expenditure Report, filed 4/11/14
- On May 15, 2014, Casino M8trix donated $1000 to the San José Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. Source: CA Form 496, Independent Expenditure Report, filed 5/16/14
Now thats funny , He breaks the rules but wants everybody else to follow them. Yeah i know , he was found not guilty. That doesn’t mean he’s innocent . This guy is a carbon copy of Reed . the same Arrogant , Elitist, corrupt Politician
Sam didn’t violate the “spirit of the law” when he solicited campaign contributions before it was legally allowed, he actually VIOLATED THE LAW. What was it that his campaign manager Ragan Henninger said? “This is what winners do!”
Wow! Another crook coming out of city hall. Just the fact that he and Reed are attached at hip should warn everyone.
That “boy am I gonna screw you all when I get elected” snickering smile of Sam’s should be sufficient warning.
Oh, and take a look at Sam’s list of contributors, a bunch, if not a majority, of whom are not even in Santa Clara County, let alone San Jose.
Casino Matrix contributed to the Chamber of Commerce PAC that donated directly to Sam Lickardo’s Campaign
Ragan’s comment reminds me of Hillary’s comment re Benghazi: “What difference does it make NOW?”
Vote Cortese, this is the biggest crook next to chuck
Seriously? How much union-fed kool-aid have you drunk this year. Cortese is in the pocket of Cindy Chavez and that disgraced attorney Ben Field. Cortese’s traded all pragmatism for union support that’s been paid for by the Lunardi’s and the money-laundering Casino M8trix.
Metro, if you wanted to get an idea of what the most ideal political cartoon would be for Dave’s camp it would be this: Dave kowtowing at the Medieval Court of Cindy with Ben Field holding a scroll and Ash Kalra as court jester. Don’t forget Steve Preminger off to the side in a cleric’s garb keeping the masses under control under the guise of the Democrat Party.
You don’t have to be born and raised in San Jose to get how bad this situation is.
It as already been reported that Casino Matrix contributed to the Chamber of Commerce PAC , who then took that money and contributed it to Sam Lickardo . By the way , Sam is also the one who vetoed to ease SJPD of the Matrix Casino. talk about a corrupt politician in the making
“Clarification: Campaign disclosure forms show that $11,000 was given to the PAC from 2010 through 2013. According to a source, $124,500 went directly to the chamber during this same time period.” Gee! If only you’d known that so-very-interesting tidbit before writing this article, sourced mainly from the Liccardo campaign as stated in the article. Gee, that might have made for an interesting line of questions for candidate Liccardo…if only you’d asked “what about contributions made *before* 2014?” Gee. But then the money given to the Chamber wouldn’t have been nearly as paltry by comparison, and wouldn’t fit the pro-Liccardo narrative.
Say, when’s the update on Sam’s demands that everyone return their Casino Matrix donations, in light of the above-mentioned clarification? Oh…we’ve moved on to another pressing issue? Gee.
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