Worst Legislator in California, Part II: Charles Calderon Lets...

Calderons lead opponents in Assembly campaign fund-raisingBy Mike Sprague, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2012 09:50:55 AM PST
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_1987...

Tom and Ian Calderon, uncle and nephew, respectively, have raised more money than their opponents in two Assembly races,
according to campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state.

The Calderons - both Democrats are running in the newly redistricted 57th and 58th Assembly districts.

Tom Calderon, a former assemblyman from Montebello, raised $151,993 during 2011 and still has $134,197 in cash on hand, according campaign.
His expected opponent, Downey Councilman Luis Marquez, also a Democrat, raised $78,270 during that same period and has $98,951.

They are running in the 58th Assembly District that includes Downey, Montebello and Pico Rivera.

Ian Calderon of Hacienda Heights,
son of Assemblyman Charles Calderon,
raised $128,670 from July 31, 2011 through Jan. 30 of this year.
He has a $100,005.
Of his contributions,$33,600 were raised in January.

His opponent, Rudy Bermudez, a former Democratic assemblyman who now lives in La Mirada,
raised $16,500 during the last six months of 2011 and has a total of $51,027.

They are running in the 57th Assembly District that includes La Mirada, much of Norwalk, unincorporated Whittier and the city of Whittier.

Two other potential candidates, Cristina Garcia in the 58th Assembly District and Kevin Perez-Allen in the 57th Assembly District, have yet to open up finance committees.

Filing for the offices doesn't begin until Feb. 13.

The reports are available at http://www.sos.ca.gov .

Undead Undead
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_19946964

Deceased Montebello school board member's campaign committee contributed money to nephew
By Mike Sprague, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/11/2012 08:42:43 PM PST

The late longtime Montebello Unified School District board member Marcella Calderon had one last gift and it was a $3,900 contribution for her nephew, Ian Calderon.

Ian Calderon, 26, a Democrat from Hacienda Heights, is keeping the family tradition alive -
his father and two uncles all have served in the state Legislature - in his expected run for the 57th Assembly District.

Thanks to contributions like the one he received from his aunt, Calderon has raised the most money in his campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state's office.

Ian Calderon's uncle, Tom Calderon, a former Democratic assemblyman from Montebello, also has raised the most money in his expected run for the 58th Assembly District.

The contribution from Marcella Calderon is legal under state law.

While money left over in a campaign committee becomes surplus and has limited uses,
that won't occur for Marcella Calderon's account until June 30 when her next filing period would end,
said Tara Stock, spokeswoman for the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Marcella Calderon died Jan. 1 following a battle with cancer.
If her death had occurred a day earlier, the contribution couldn't have been made to Ian Calderon, according to state rules.

Marcella Calderon's husband, Tom Calderon, said he was told that something had to be done with the money and it couldn't be spent on a direct family member.

"I talked to Yolanda Miranda and that was one option," he said, referring to Marcella Calderon's campaign treasurer.

"I think the rest will go to charity,"
Tom Calderon said.
"It could be a couple of things.
One is an animal shelter and another is a small scholarship contribution."

Ian Calderon said he had always understood that his aunt was going to contribute to his campaign but didn't have a chance to do anything before she died.

"She wanted to be involved and do everything she could," he said.

Marcella Calderon's account had about $9,199 as the report filed in late October and had received an additional $9,000 from state Sen. Ron Calderon's (her brother-in-law) state controller committee.

The latest report wasn't available from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/ County Clerk's Office.

Bob Stern, the primary author of the state's campaign finance laws,
said he sees no problem with the contribution.

"It's appropriate to give to another candidate," Stern said.
"If it's a relative, it's presumably following the person's wishes.
I don't have a problem with surplus funds going to other candidates."

Ian Calderon's report showed total contributions of $128,670 from July 31, 2011, through Jan. 30.
He has raised $100,005 in cash.

However, his opponent, former Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, a Democrat now from La Mirada,
noted that the ending time for the report was supposed to be Dec. 31, 2011.

Of Calderon's contributions,
$33,600 was received in January.

"I think yesterday's report highlights the games that are routinely played in Sacramento by politicians," Bermudez said.
"If we reported January's (money) we'd have a much stronger showing."

Bermudez raised $16,500 during the last six months of 2011 and has a total of $51,027.

Ian Calderon said reporting his contributions in January was just a way of being more open.

"The process is all about transparency,"
he said.
"The money came in and I wanted to report it."

Bermudez and Calderon are running in the 57th Assembly District, which stretches from South El Monte south to La Mirada, and includes Whittier, Hacienda Heights, La Habra Heights, Santa Fe Springs, and parts of La Puente and Industry.

In the 58th Assembly District, Tom Calderon raised $151,993 during 2011 and still has $134,197 in cash on hand.

Calderon's expected opponent, Downey Councilman Luis Marquez, also a Democrat, raised $78,270, including a $25,000 loan from himself, during that same period and has $98,951.

They are running in the 58th Assembly District that includes Montebello, Pico Rivera, Downey and south to Cerritos.

Two other potential candidates, Cristina Garcia in the 58th Assembly District and Kevin Perez-Allen in the 57th Assembly District, have yet to open up finance committees.

Filing for the offices doesn't begin until Feb.13.

mike.sprague@sgvn.com

What's the latest on this Audit?
http://egpnews.com/...

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/montebello-ca...

jeffery just posted
"Central Basin is full of crooks. You pay for their incompetence with your high water rates! "

earlier post
At one point an audit was in the works, but Fierro says State Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) canceled meetings that could potentially have led to the audit,
one of the few ways the public can exercise oversight on the water district.
Fierro says Calderon and his brother Tom Calderon, a former state assemblyman, backed a recall against him and fellow Commerce Councilwoman Tina Baca Del Rio in 2009 and suspects it was because they were vocal about issues that affected the water district:

Is this the quality of elected officials we want representing the San Gabriel Valley?
http://meetiancalderon.com/...
http://www.CaliforniaJewishAlliance.com/

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_2049...

It's Politics: Whittier Councilman Bob Henderson pulls endorsement of Assembly candidate Ian Calderon

Why would Henderson enmdorse a Calderon in the first place?

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_20604434/its-pol...
Drunks and Plastic bags

Calderon fails to show at debate
http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_20631848/ian-cal...

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_20662277/six-can...

Four years after then-former state Sen. Charles Calderon came out of retirement and successfully ran for the Assembly,
his brother Tom, an Assemblyman from 1998-2002,
is trying to do the same thing.

But Tom Calderon is facing stiff competition with four Democrats and one Republican in the June 5 election for the 58th Assembly District.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/montebello-ca...

concerning
http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_20755324/special...

Whistelbloser commented
El Guapo, obviously you don't read the LA Times much?
How about Saturday's front page story,
above the fold,
about Ed Vasquez and the rest of the Tom Calderon-led flunkies over at Central Basin suing "unknown" parties for liable over them being called on the carpet for fixing a federal grant contract to put a million bucks in Tom's pocket?

Missed that one, huh?
The stories going on to mention a few other District Attorney investigations into that group as well.
Missed that too?
Try using Google and pull up the nearly dozen stories written about how bad those boys are over at Central Basin Municipal Water.
Educate yourself and maybe you'll understand why Big Ed and the others need to go!

FLUSH the TURD writes
I hear that Ed Vasquez and the Board at Central Basin Municipal Water District are pushing a three-year extension for Tom Calderon and his crime front The Calderon Group.
It's like taking candy from a baby...give Machine Gun Tommy a $140,000 a year to feed his crime organization...let's start referring to them as the Calderone's, you know, like the Corlene's:)

42 yr Montebelo resident observed
It appears that Ed is now as popular as his wife.
(disgraced Montebello mayor Rosie Vasquea tt)
Ed Vasquez lost to Roybal by a 2:1 ratio of votes.

Perhaps Tom Claderons cushy "consulting" contract is in jeporady???

Tom Calderon finally has been sent his walking papers. Unfortunately, Chuck E. Cheese's surfer boy son Ian won. With Ron termed out in 2014 all of the Calderon brothers will be history. The people need to keep them out. Ed Vasquez bit the big one too. Hurray.

BAGO MAPATUMBA

Arem't these just more publ empl union puppets who are driving our state to insolvency? No sane citizen could still support a unioncrat. With all we know now that would be CRAZY.

When it rains it pours
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/montebello-ca...

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/02/local...

The Central Basin district, facing a raft of investigations, targets authors of a critical email. L.A. County's D.A. fears action could deter whistle-blowers.

June 02, 2012|By Hector Becerra and Sam Allen, Los Angeles Times

"Tom Calderon, a former state Assemblyman, holds a consulting contract with Water2Save,
which has identified him on its website as both a "Director of Governmental Affairs" and "Board Director."
Calderon is also a consultant to Central Basin, under an agreement that pays him about $140,000 per year.
His two brothers, who are both in the state Legislature, have helped support the district in Sacramento."

"In late February, representatives from the companies who lost out on the work contacted The Times, claiming Calderon's roles constituted a conflict of interest"

Its about time wrote:

Tom Calderon finally has been sent his walking papers. Unfortunately, Chuck E. Cheese's surfer boy son Ian won. With Ron termed out in 2014 all of the Calderon brothers will be history. The people need to keep them out. Ed Vasquez bit the big one too. Hurray.

Unfortunately, a new Calderon appears to have popped up just as Tom has been rejected. The 57th assembly district (Hacienda Heights) looks to be Ian's new home when the run off happens. At this time, he is about 231 votes ahead of third place. That's a lot when only late mail in and provisional votes are left to count.

57th Assembly District
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_20800352/he...

Ian Calderon, son of state Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Industry, leads former Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez by 241 votes to win a ticket to November.

But 4,462 ballots remain to be counted in the next couple of weeks by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office.
The first update will be Friday.

In the heavily Democratic district, La Mirada Republican Noel Jaimes was the top vote-getter in Tuesday's election, with 43 percent.
Calderon had 9,108 votes or 28.7 percent,
while Bermudez had 8,877 votes or 28 percent.

"The Bermudez-Calderon race was almost like a repeat of when Rudy ran against Ron (Calderon) for the Senate seat.
They were about 300 votes apart.
It's deja vu again," said Ralph Pacheco,
a member of the Whittier Union High School Board of Education.

Jaimes' performance in getting nearly half the votes was somewhat of a surprise, said Barbara Stone, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State Fullerton. Stone said Jaimes was helped by low turnout and the negative campaign between Bermudez and Calderon.

"I expected him to make the runoff," Stone said. "I didn't expect him to whip them that bad."

58th Assembly District

Former Democratic Assemblyman Tom Calderon of Montebello, who was trying to make a comeback after 10 years out of office, placed third in the 58th Assembly District.

Instead, Downey Republican Patricia Kotze-Ramos and Democrat Cristina Garcia placed first and second with 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively, to advance to November.

Calderon received 23 percent,
Downey Councilman Luis Marquez, 12 percent,
Bell Gardens Councilman Daniel Crespo,7 percent, and Sultan "Sam" Ahmad of Artesia, 4 percent.

Garcia may have been helped by being the only Democratic woman in the race, said Louis Reyes, former state Democratic regional director for the area.

"The amount of frustration and angst of the voter electorate definitely helped a newcomer who was the only Democratic woman on the ballot,"
Reyes said.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/03/local...

Water district gives millions in contracts to politically connected recipients

Those people and organizations have helped the southeast Los Angeles County agency fight critics and avoid outside scrutiny.

Central Basin has also paid Oldtimers' board president, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, more than $750,000 in consulting fees since 2004 for political and legislative advice.

Calderon's two brothers, both state legislators, have defended the water district's interests in Sacramento. In 2009, Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) helped thwart an audit of Central Basin's books. This year, Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) proposed legislation that could reduce the fees Central Basin's customers pay for groundwater.

Tom and Ron Calderon, as well as Central Basin officials and contractors, helped finance a recall effort in 2008 against two council members in the City of Commerce who were critics of the water district, records show.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), whose congressional district overlaps with Central Basin's service area, said the utility has refused to share information about its finances and rate structure.

She also said it was a conflict of interest for Ron and Charles Calderon to sponsor legislation affecting an agency for which their brother is a paid consultant

Tom Calderon
•Current board president of Oldtimers
•A former assemblyman from Montebello
•His consulting firm, the Calderon Group,
has earned about $750,000 in consulting fees from Central Basin over the last seven years.

The Central Basin board has increased Calderon's pay rate from $2,500 a month in 2004 to $11,666 a month this year

•Director of governmental affairs at Water 2 Save, a water conservation firm that has received $150,000 from Central Basin since 2009

Ron Calderon
•Brother of Charles and Tom Calderon, current assemblyman and former assemblyman, respectively
•A state senator from Montebello
•Helped Central Basin avoid an audit
•Recently introduced a bill that would give Central Basin greater authority over another water district. The bill has yet to move out of the Senate
•Along with Cole and his brother Tom, helped finance a 2008 recall effort against two council members in the City of Commerce who were opposed to a Central Basin project

Charles Calderon
•Brother of Tom and Ron Calderon,
former assemblyman and current state senator, respectively
•An assemblyman from Whittier
•Calderon has proposed a bill that would benefit Central Basin by reducing the fees its customers pay for groundwater.
For now the bill has been shelved.
•Last month, one of his former staff members was hired as a public affairs representative at the water district

Calderon links

Tom Calderon is board president of Oldtimers. The organization's attorney said Calderon does not draw a salary.

But his consulting firm, the Calderon Group, has been under contract with Central Basin since 2004 for a variety of services, including coordinating meetings with elected officials and advising the district on dealings with state government.

The Central Basin board has increased Calderon's pay rate from $2,500 a month in 2004 to $11,666 a month this year, and given him additional duties.

Calderon, who declined to be interviewed, also works for Water2Save, a Solana Beach firm that has been paid $150,000 by Central Basin since 2009 for water conservation services. The company's website lists Calderon as its director of governmental affairs.

Campaign finance records show that four of the five current Central Basin board members have received donations from Calderon; his wife, Marcella; or his brother Ron. One of the four, Robert Apodaca, worked for Tom Calderon when he served in the Assembly between 1998 and 2002.

Tom and Ron Calderon were also among individuals and contractors affiliated with Central Basin who supported the recall of the two Commerce council members in 2008.

The targets of the campaign, Baca Del Rio and Fierro, had raised objections to a power plant in the neighboring city of Vernon and a proposed Central Basin water line that would have supplied it.

Ron and Tom Calderon donated a total of $2,500 to California Citizens for Good Government, a committee that supported the Commerce recall and several similar campaigns. Cole contributed $5,000, records show.

C2 Group, the water district's Washington, D.C., lobbyist, gave $3,000. Other donors included a Central Basin attorney and one of the district's main contractors, Del Terra Real Estate.

The district's political connections have helped it defend its centerpiece project, the recycled-water pipeline.

In 2001, the state auditor found that ratepayers were paying millions of dollars a year through a "standby charge" to support the project even though there were serious doubts whether it would succeed. The report, by state auditor Elaine Howle, said Central Basin had "drastically exaggerated" the customer base for recycled water.

The standby charge affects owners of more than 300,000 properties, adding $10 a year to their property taxes. It generates $3 million a year for the district.

Despite the criticism, Central Basin has continued to expand the pipeline. About $16.5 million has been spent on the latest addition, a district spokeswoman said, bringing total construction costs to roughly $64 million.