2026. California candidate for governor Kounalakis promises blind confidence

From Alexey KossefCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

Lieutenant Eleni Kunalakis, who earns millions of dollars a year from extensive real estate investments in the Sacramento region and beyond, says he will put some of his possessions in blind confidence if he is elected California’s manager.

The commitment follows an investigation from Calmatters to Kounalakis, which runs as governor in 2026. According to financial disclosures, its portfolio includes office buildings in the center of Sacramento, which hire dozens of organizations with business to the state and at least three state agencies.

“If elected governor, LG is committed to putting assets that can present a conflict of interest in blind confidence,” a Kounalakis David Beltran campaign, a Kounalakis campaign, said in a campaign.

Which of these assets will be transferred to the blind reed and how Kounalakis would determine what a conflict of interest is, however, remains unclear. Her campaign refused to provide Kounalakis available for interview and did not answer questions seeking more details about her plans.

California Rules of Conflict of Interest Disqualify government officials to participate in government decisions that would provide for a strong placement of their personal finances, although there is an exception if the potential effect on the employee’s interests is indistinguishable from the public effect.

It can be a special node for the governor to navigate, as they are dealing with everything in the state, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at the Law Faculty Loyola and former President of the Ethics Committee in Los Angeles. “You can imagine any investment, lifting question, big or small.”

Levinson said that the blind Trust offers an average basis for enclosing politicians from potential conflicts of interest as far as possible, without the “Dragon” step to force them to sell their participations.

Governor Gavin Newo put their business farms in blind trust After being selected in 2018, instead of selling the collection of wineries, restaurants, bars and a hotel. According to this agreement, Newsom has transferred control of the Plumpjack group to a family friend who is forbidden to discuss his management decisions with the governor. Later he signed Enforcement order Prohibition of all executive branch agencies to enter a business agreements with any part of the Plumpjack group.

Prime Sacramento Real Estate

Kounalakis is the daughter of the powerful real estate developer in Sacramento Angelo Tsakopolus, and she works for the company she founded, Akt Development Corporation, for nearly two decades, before President Barack Obama now appointed her ambassador in Hungary. Director of the AKT Development Corporation and Gfilied AKT in Hungary in 2010. Her husband, scientist and writer Marcos Kunalakis, is now the director of the Akt Development Corporation and Gorliated Akt in Hungary.

As she was selected as lieutenant governor in 2018, Kounalakis annually fulfills the necessary statements of economic interests, presenting her investments, units of real estate and other sources of income. She did not put these assets in blind confidence.

The latest form filed in February for its finances in 2024 lists owners of ownership in office buildings, agricultural and pastures, sunny fields, parking and undeveloped properties in Northern California and Central Valley, as well as in the family partnership of Tsakopoulos, which has additional construction and land.

Three of the buildings from which Kounalakis draws significant income are located in the commercial corridor around the state capitol, where the interest groups, lobbyists and others with business in government concentrate their operations.

Kounalakis is a partner at Meridian Plaza, an office building on the other side of the Capitol Park in the center of Sacramento. She received at least $ 10,000 rent last year from 34 different tenants of the building, according to her financial announcement, most of whom lobby companies or groups lobbying the government of the state.

These include sales organizations representing car manufacturers, insurance companies, strawberry manufacturers, beer distributors and oil industry, as well as Microsoft, PG & E, Verizon and Altria tobacco manufacturer. At least two government agencies, the Ministry of Public Health and the Branch of the Ministry of General Services, also have office space there.

In the neighborhood, another office building in which Kounalakis is a partner, had half a dozen major tenants last year, including the California Fund, a private foundation that is advocating to extend access to health; Rescue agency working on public health campaigns with state departments; and Sikich, a company that provides technological services to the government.

Through Tsakopoulos’s family partnership, Kounalakis receives a rental income from one Capitol mall, another office built on the street from the state capitol, including at least $ 10,000 last year from the University of California’s Council. Kounalakis sits on this advice as a Governor Lieutenant.

Beltran stressed that Kounalakis owns a minority in all its business investment and does not participate in daily property operations. He did not explain why she would use blind confidence as a manager if she did not feel the need to make it a Governor.

“The lieutenant’s governor has taken measures to ensure that all the assets she owns do not impede her work as a lieutenant,” Beltran said. “She will do the same as the governor.”

“That’s money in her pocket”

John Pelisero, director of the government ethics at the Santa Clara University Applied Ethics Center, said it would be reasonable to take steps as Lieutenant Governor to distance himself from these assets, although he did not vote or sign legislation related to her clients.

“If she takes advantage of lobbying financially, then her optics are anxious. It would be reasonable for every public member to look at this and say,” It’s weird, “Pelisero said.

He said the standard would be even higher if Kounalakis was elected manager and recommended that she put her investment in blind confidence, managed by an independent guardian who had no communication with her.

As governor, Kounalakis would also be able to direct government agencies to rent positions in property where it has a share of ownership.

“It’s money in her pocket,” said Tom Hilachk, a political and elected lawyer whose company helped to create the blind trust of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he became governor in 2003, “She must find a way to deal with this conflict.”

But Levinson said there is a low risk of conflict of interest with organizations that hire a place in Kounalakis property, as they have more direct ways to try to cope with a manager, such as contributing to her campaign. Levinson added that she would be more concerned with the adoption of Kounalakis policies, which are beneficial for the California landlords than to make decisions that serve tenants in her buildings.

“We are just trying to make sure that someone in a position of public confidence serves the public, not themselves,” Levinson said. “For my ear, her answer is much better than someone who says,” Don’t worry “or” you can trust me “or” Let them come after me if they think there is a problem. “

Kounalakis won at least $ 1.39 million – and probably far more – from its investment last year, according to Calfatters analysis of its economic interest report. The income from each holding is reported in the range of over $ 100,000.

In addition to the rent from the Meridian Plaza, which exceeded $ 340,000, Kounalakis reported more than $ 253,000 in income from other properties, where it owns an action more than 10%, including vineyards and record farms in the County of San Hoaquin County. She and her husband have a small property of less than 10% in sunny fields and Pasha in Santa Nela, which brought over $ 121,000 last year.

Kounalakises also have an interest in the minority in Tsakopoulos’ family partnership, from which last year the lieutenant’s governor reported more than $ 574,000 in income from an office building on Sacramento, a lease of almond and Rice Farm in the District, the sale of the Placer Land Trust dea

The economic interest report further requires civil servants to inform their spouses’ income. Accord to the Lieutenant Governor’s Financial Disclosure, Markos Kounalakis Earned More Than $ 147,000 from His Stake in An Investment Trust Connected to The Tsakopolous Family, More TV Investments, Inc., and as a Political Science Lecturer at Stanford University, and Less Than $ 1,000 from His Minority Ownership of A Podcast Company and A Boat.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.