Minutes 1992 0406 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - April 6, 1992 Page - 2 - 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS A. Lou Filipovich, 15376 Laverne Drive, asked Council Member Glaze to make a motion, and either Council Member Santos or Perry to second it, that the Hearing on Robert's Landing be a discussion for evidentiary hearing only. He also asked that the public be permitted to address the City Council first in the Robert's Landing Public Hearing process. Council Member Glaze said, with the number of speakers and the volume of material , it was unlikely any action would be taken tonight. Council Member Santos said he was prepared to stay as long as it took to complete the matter. B. Bob Leigh, 1388 Drake Avenue, President of Washington Homeowners Association, invited the City Council , the Mayor, and all present to the Easter Egg Hunt at Washington Manor Park on April 8. He expressed his thanks to the Floresta Homeowners Association, Bonaire Civic League, the Optimist Club, and Dennis Smith and the Recreation Department staff for their assistance. C. Larry Smith, 958 Arguello Drive, said he sees special -interest groups seizing control of local government and buying candidates. He noted contributions made by the Sentinels to candidates Kerr, Myers, and Perry. He said more than 50% of the contributions to these candidates have been made by the Sentinels or other building-trade groups and many contributions are from people outside the City limits. He said the Sentinels have contributed $44,000 in City Council races since 1984 and 10 of the 12 candidates supported by the Sentinels were elected and 5 are now City Council Members. He said Council Members Corbett and Polvorosa did not receive contributions from the Sentinels. He said the head of the Sentinels is the head of the Planning Commission. He said now a major development has been rushed through by the Planning Commission. He asked the City Council to abstain from voting on the Robert's Landing development or to prohibit Citation from using Sentinel -related contractors or suppliers. He also asked that the Sentinels be required to submit a list of contractors used on other jobs to see if there is any conflict of interest. He also requested the City Council pass a resolution limiting campaign spending to $2,000 per candidate. Council Member Santos asked if Mr. Smith had checked his records for 1984. He said he had no contributions from the Sentinels and, in fact, had no contributions in 1984 and only $1,000 in 1988. He said he used the $1,000 in 1988 to throw a victory party for his supporters. He said, although he supports public financing for campaigns, there is limited support at the State and Federal level . He said a local campaign cannot be run for less than $15,000. Mayor Karp said the San Leandro Times had a lot of erroneous information regarding campaign contributions. He said Howard Kerr received more than 60% of his funds from contributions under $100. He said there are only five developers connected with the Sentinels and most of the members are businessmen.