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Publisher’s Perspective: Tammy Kim’s “Dark Money” PAC

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For those who may not know, I am an experienced elections attorney. Years ago, I was General Counsel for the Illinois Elections Law Commission. I also served as Chair of the Illinois State Board of Elections — an independent state agency responsible for administering and enforcing campaign finance and election laws.

Through my work in Illinois and here in California, I have seen the way in which politicians get around campaign finance laws through the establishment of political action committees (PACs) funded with hard-to-trace “dark money” to prop up their campaigns and attack their political opponents. I have also witnessed the damage these PACs can do to our local democracy.

That’s one of the reasons why I started this publication … because I believe in the importance of an informed electorate and the need to call out these dangerous dark money committees.

Recently, one of these political action committees was established to support Tammy Kim’s mayoral campaign. A review of the paperwork filed with the City shows that the PAC has no ties to Irvine. In fact, the organization’s address, phone number and treasurer are from Imperial Beach in San Diego County. And, the person listed as the “principal” for the PAC is also based in Imperial Beach.

Like most of these committees, this one has a nice-sounding name — Friends of Tammy Kim for Mayor 2024. Don’t be fooled! It was established so that Tammy Kim can get around Irvine’s campaign contribution limit of $620.

This new PAC will no doubt take in hundreds of thousands of dollars. A portion of that money will be spent on ads supportive of Kim while the rest will be funneled to other dark money committees to attack Kim’s opponents.

Tammy Kim is counting on out-of-town money to become Irvine’s next mayor. In addition to the establishment of this PAC, nearly 60% of her campaign contributions have come from outside of Irvine. Those who would benefit most from Kim’s plans for mega-warehouses and other development schemes have been lining up behind her for months. If she wins in November, they win … and Irvine residents lose.

Full disclosure: In 2020, this publication endorsed Tammy Kim for Irvine City Council based on a phone interview I conducted. During that interview, she flat-out lied to me regarding her position on a number of critical issues facing our City. Once elected, Tammy Kim ignored pleas from families dealing with documented health issues related to Irvine’s largest industrial polluter; she tried to stop construction of our Veterans Memorial Park; she voted to kick the voter-approved Veterans Cemetery out of Irvine; she opposed bringing the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum back to Irvine; she voted for Irvine ratepayers to be charged the highest electricity rates in all of Orange County while giving herself a 40% raise to represent Irvine on the OCPA Board; and she tried to block Irvine residents from voting on district elections. There are a number of good candidates running for Mayor. Tammy Kim is not one of them.

Franklin J. Lunding

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