{"id":5389,"date":"2021-02-23T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T18:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5389"},"modified":"2021-02-23T12:02:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T19:02:56","slug":"cleaning-up-a-35-million-sacramento-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5389","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning Up A $35 Million Sacramento Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

First posted on California Political Review<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Only in California. Sign a shady multimillion-dollar state contract with a politically connected consulting firm to do \u201cvoter outreach,\u201d get sued over it and not only will your friends in Sacramento paper over it, but they will also appoint you to the United States Senate.<\/p>\n

Or at least that is how it worked for Sen. Alex Padilla.<\/p>\n

In this column last year, we told you about the attempt of then-Secretary of State Padilla to execute a $35 million contract with a political consulting firm, SKDKnickerbocker, whose website prominently stated that it was on \u201cTeam Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the contract was fishy from the start. Not only did the secretary of state\u2019s office not comply with the Public Contract Code, only a handful of partisan political consulting firms, rather than nonpartisan advertising agencies, were solicited to bid and, most importantly, the contract was not supported by any line item in the state budget.<\/p>\n

Even the state controller\u2019s office cried foul and rejected the contract. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association sued, media scrutiny followed, and Padilla and Gov. Gavin Newsom got egg on their faces just as Newsom was appointing Padilla to the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

On a call with reporters in December to discuss Padilla\u2019s promotion, the two were quick to downplay the contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Controller\u2019s office, the Department of Finance \u2014 everyone is sharpening their pencils and working it out,\u201d said Padilla.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with legislative leadership and (the Department of) Finance and we\u2019ll get that paid,\u201d said Newsom.<\/p>\n

Well, the fix is in and the governor and Democrats in the state Legislature intend to get SKDK paid even if it comes at the expense of the counties.<\/p>\n

To read the entire column, please\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

AP Photo\/Eric Risberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First posted on California Political Review Only in California. Sign a shady multimillion-dollar state contract with a politically connected consulting firm to do \u201cvoter outreach,\u201d get sued over it and not only will your friends in Sacramento paper over it, but they will also appoint you to the United States Senate. Or at least that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nCleaning Up A $35 Million Sacramento Mess - San Diego News Desk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=5389\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleaning Up A $35 Million Sacramento Mess - San Diego News Desk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First posted on California Political Review Only in California. 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