The Balico Shakedown
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 16 March 2010 — Comments Off
The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) outlines whether or not an elected or appointed official has a conflict of interest…
- You have a conflict of interest with regard to a particular government decision if it is sufficiently likely that the outcome of the decision will have an important impact on your economic interests, and
- a significant portion of your jurisdiction does not also feel the important impact on their economic interests.
This should be kept in mind when considering the amount of money Councilmember Ed Balico has made in the past several years as the Waterfront has been developed (and as he voted on numerous measures and resolutions related to the project). Balico made so much money that the ethics-challenged councilmember had to refund a certain Railroad Avenue property owner a sum to the tune of $100k. The transaction is known as the Balico Shakedown. It occurred days before the 2008 election, where Balico would earn the most votes in the city’s history. So it goes.
No comments yet …
Trackbacks so far …