Museum House developer spent over $435,000 fighting referendum drive
The recent battle to sway public opinion for or against Museum House, a disputed 25-story luxury condominium tower planned in Newport Beach, now has a number illustrating the high-stakes spending behind those efforts: $527,344.
Of that amount, the vast majority was spent by Museum House developer Related California, whose 100-unit project is proposed to replace the Orange County Museum of Art at 850 San Clemente Drive in Newport Center. The museum is seeking to move to Costa Mesa.
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FOR THE RECORD
A previous version of this post gave an incorrect address for the Museum House project. It is at 850 San Clemente Drive.
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According to the latest available campaign expenditure reports filed with the California secretary of state’s office, Related spent $435,699 by Dec. 31 to fight local activist group Line in the Sand’s petition seeking a referendum on the development, which was approved by the City Council in November.
The amount was 60% of the money Related spent on California politics in all of 2016.
The referendum effort, however, gathered nearly 14,000 signatures in about two weeks, and the petition was certified by the county registrar of voters office in January.
The matter is due back to the City Council on Feb. 14. The council may put Museum House to a public vote this year or in 2018, or rescind its approval of the project.
However, a lawsuit filed by the Orange County Museum of Art is contesting the petition’s legality and compliance with state elections code.
The money that Related spent far exceeds the $91,645 allocated by Line in the Sand in November and December.
Line in the Sand spokesman Tim Stoaks said the group “really appreciates all the support it received during the petition process.”
Line in the Sand, the political arm of activist group Still Protecting Our Newport, was bolstered by a $46,506 in-kind donation from the political action committee Newport 1st.
Newport Beach resident Susan Skinner, treasurer of Newport 1st, said the aid the PAC gave to Line in the Sand paid for the petition.
Newport 1st received its money from Citizens Against High Rise Urban Towers, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that also sponsors the PAC. The nonprofit gave $47,500 to Newport 1st on Dec. 16, according to Newport 1st’s campaign filings.
Little is known about Citizens Against High Rise Urban Towers, other than that it was incorporated in October and its spokesman is Santa Ana-based attorney Mark Rosen.
Related California has repeatedly called Citizens a “dark money” group, since its backers have not been made public.
Rosen did not respond to messages seeking comment Thursday. He previously told the Daily Pilot that the nonprofit is funded primarily by Newport Beach residents who had signed other petitions against Museum House. He said he was unaware of the group’s other financial backers.
Gino Canori, Related California’s executive vice president and a Newport Beach resident, said his company has been “fully transparent in reporting its expenditures, down to the penny. Our spending report confirms that fact.”
That transparency “stands in stark contrast to the reports filed by the opponents of Museum House. Their reports raise more questions than answers,” Canori said in an email.
He pointed to Citizens’ $47,500 donation to Newport 1st.
“This donation and the way it is reported reveals the intent of the opponents to be secretive about the true source of the majority of the money used to fuel the petition process,” Canori said. “Clearly these reports are not a complete picture. We believe these reports raise significant questions about the money spent by opponents against Museum House.”
He questioned the amount Citizens spent on television advertisements, mailers, lobbying and legal bills opposing the development.
“Worst of all, the lack of disclosure means that Newport residents didn’t know at the time of being asked to sign the petition and still don’t know who provided the secret money against Museum House,” Canori said. “The secret money is behind Line in the Sand.”
Skinner said Newport 1st accepted Citizens’ donation after an “appropriate legal review.”
“Our collective effort to stop the Museum House could not have been successful without [Citizens’] generous gift,” Skinner said in an email. “Volunteers working to qualify the referendum knew that gathering the 5,619 registered voter signatures needed to stop the Museum House from moving forward would be a Herculean task.”
The largest chunk of Related’s spending — $200,000 — went to Goco Consulting, a Sacramento-based campaign consultant.
A team from Goco was stationed throughout Newport Beach in December urging people not to sign Line in the Sand’s petition.
In early December, two men were suspected of circulating fake petitions before the real ones from Line in the Sand were out. The men declined to tell the Daily Pilot who they were working with.
Later that month, the Irvine Co. sued Related California, contending that Museum House supporters were creating a “hostile environment” for shoppers at Irvine Co. properties.
Among the $45,139 directly spent by Line in the Sand, it used $27,000 to hire Calabasas-based PCI Consultants to help its volunteers gather signatures, according to the group’s filing with the Newport Beach city clerk’s office.
Both Line in the Sand and Related California spent money to advertise with the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Pilot’s parent company.
Twitter: @BradleyZint
