Concern for the conflict of Atkins’ interests in the race of the Governor of California

From Alexey KossefCalmness

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

If former state -owned Senate leader Tony Atkins was elected governor next year, she would monitor a state treaty that invests money in her own pocket.

Following the directive of GAVIN Newsom governor to develop state -owned property at affordable prices, the California Department of General Services in 2020 hired a consulting firm to help prioritize sites, conduct market research and evaluation of applicants’ applications.

This company, Lesar Development Consultants, is owned by the husband of Atkins, Jennifer Lesar. And because of the California Community Property Act, which gives couples equal ownership of assets in their marriage, the $ 1 million contract – which was re -prepared in February until 2028 – costs tens of thousands of dollars of Atkins, according to financial disclosures.

This is just one of the potential conflicts of interest with the business relationship of her husband, with whom Atkins encounters as She is looking for the most powerful office in CaliforniaS Almost half of the main clients last year in Lesar companies hired lobbyists to influence government policy.

The disclosure forms submitted by Atkins and Lesar List 51 different entities, including the Ministry of General Services, of which they received over $ 10,000 in income last year through Lesar Development Consultants, Lesar Support Services, Lesar Holdings, Inc. Or the Global Policy Leadership Academy – all companies for which Lesar serves as president or CEO.

Calfatters analysis has found that 24 of these clients are registered lobbying employers. These include the Counts Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange, the cities of San Jose, Oakland and Palm Springs, the provider of the insurer Elevance Health, the ALL HOME Bay Advocate Group and the home -made home -made home builder Brookfield.

This means that Atkins earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from enterprises that could soon request her signature or veto for priority legislation by requesting funding in the proposals of her state budget or applying for contracts with her administration.

“People who have a business before the state could use the governor’s potential husband as a defender, in essence,” says Jessica Levinson, a professor at the Law Faculty of Loyola and former President of the Los Angeles Ethics Committee.

There is no Atkins Plan for Conflict Management

Atkins declined to interview to discuss how he would deal with the conflict of interest as a manager. She did not say that she would take specific steps to isolate Lesar’s business transactions or make any changes to her current agreement.

“Tony is proud of her husband’s decades to expand access to accessible homes in California,” spokesman Danny Wang said in a statement. “During its leadership in the assembly and in the Senate, Tony maintains high ethical standards, prioritizes transparency and avoids any conflict of interest.

California Rules of Conflict of Interest Disqualify government officials to participate in government decisions that would have a strong influence on their personal finances, although there is an exception if the potential effect is not beneficial to the official than the general public would be.

Atkins is not the first politician with a family member whose work creates a potential conflict of interest with their chosen position. Neither is she the only candidate for governor in 2026, whose income can complicate their mandate.

Lt. Governor Eleni Kunalakis told Calmatters in April The fact that it will make its extensive investment in ownership – which include office buildings in the center of Sacramento, which leases at least three state agencies and dozens of organizations with business in front of the government – blind confidence if it wins next November. She dropped out of the competition Friday.

But the direct financial benefit Atkins receives from the income of Lesar and the governor’s expansion portfolio, covering the entire California government, making this a particularly thorny case, Levinson said.

Organizations could theoretically hire Lesar to get closer to Atkins while Atkins, as a governor, could direct more state business to Lesar’s companies – although Levinson stressed that the potential for conflict of interest did not necessarily have done something illegal or unethical.

“None of it means that it is corrupt or would make corrupt decisions,” Levinson said.

The relationship has long raised eyebrows

Questions about the potential conflicts of interest with her husband’s work have transferred Atkins throughout her rise to California’s policy. She married Lesar in 2008When Atkins was a member of the San Diego Municipal Council and subsequently served 14 years in the legislature, where she became the first person for more than a century, who led both the Senate and the Assembly.

As a legislator, Atkins received some criticism To enter accounts This would raise taxes and fees for financing housing at affordable prices, the line of her husband’s husband, so she sought permission from a lawyer for the legislature. After she became the president of the Senate in 2018, Los Angeles Times announced that a clientele at Lesar’s Firms had Almost four times in five yearsS Last year, a campaign guard claims that Atkins Illegally used campaign funds For a training trip of up to $ 22,500 to Austria, organized by the Academy of Leadership in Global Policy.

Atkins has always denied any misconduct.

Lesar’s business portfolio has grown, including four companies that work nearly three dozen people. The largest Lesar development consultants is a management consulting firm that provides strategic consultations for home and homelessness projects at affordable prices. Lesar Support Services manages long -term housing programs, public health and disaster recovery. The Academy of Leadership in Global Policy offers training courses and study trips focused on urban development. They all receive operating support from Lesar Holdings, Inc.

Although not one of the most elite level of home consultants at affordable prices in the state, Lesar brings a significant influence in the industry, especially since she has taken out a unique band with auxiliary services such as her academy, said Ben Metcalfe, Managing Director of Terner Center for home innovation.

“There are some obvious synergies and benefits of participating in both organizations,” says Metcalfe, who attended a study by the Academy of Leadership in Global Policy.

On a report on economic interests that Lesar filed last year in San Diego County for her consulting work, she reads the fair market value of Lesar development consultants for more than $ 1 million and for each of its other three companies between $ 1001 and $ 1 million. State financial disclosures only require files to provide wide ranges.

Atkins said he had received over $ 100,000 gross income from each of the four companies last year. This means that according to the California Community Property Act, Lesar has won at least a doubling of that amount – more than $ 800,000 – in his business.

The total income received by Akins is unknown. But nearly 40 of Lesar’s customers paid her enough last year that this caused the disclosure requirements for Atkins as she won more than $ 10,000 from each. This included the Ministry of General Services and 18 lobbying employers.

“There are potential conflicts of interest in all consulting contracts for a state agency,” Thomas Hilachk, a political and elected lawyer whose company helped to create blind confidence for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he became governor in 2003, “said in an email. “Such conflicts could also occur with all private consulting clients if such clients have questions or legislation under the governor’s body.”

Few solutions to avoid conflict

The Ministry of General Services hired LESAR development consultants for its affordable housing project in November 2020 under a three -year contract worth nearly $ 1.1 million, according to a copy provided to Calmatters. Lesar was paid $ 301.41 per hour, including labor, compensation for fringes, overheads and profit.

Shortly before it expires, the contract was extended for another year for an additional $ 364,000. In February, the department signed a new three -year contract for just over $ 1 million, which will reserve Lesar development consultants to advise proposals for the construction of housing on state property in 2028.

“The DGS uses the consultant to help, when necessary, by starting projects, preparing and evaluating proposals presented by developers, providing advice on complex policies, technical and procedural issues regarding accessible housing and ground leasing and financial closure,” the list of the department reads.

Calmatters received several other public contracts that Lesar Consultants Development signed with cities and counties listed in the ATKINS Economic Interest statement last year. They include $ 964,800 a one -year contract for the production of a residential strategy for San Diego County; $ 161 230, one -year contract to update the Homelessness Strategy of Ventura County; $ 120,000, one -year extension of a contract for signing services for San Jose Loan; a $ 100,000 contract, one and a half year to advise San Jose for financing apartment projects at affordable prices, with options for renewal by 2030; And one -year extension of the ongoing contract for $ 259,600 with Monterey County to update your Ordinance to exclude housing.

All these local authorities hire lobbyists to evaluate the requests and legislation for financing the state budget.

Levinson and Hilachk agreed that there were no easy Atkins solutions to deal with the potential conflicts of interest if she was elected manager. Unlike assets, such as property or investment, Atkins cannot put her husband’s job in blind confidence.

And it would be complicated, Levinson told Atkins to give up any decision of the policy that affects Lesar’s clients.

“There are too many things that the governor also makes too many pulsating effects from the governor’s decisions,” Levinson said.

Since even the emergence of a conflict of interest can undermine the confidence of society in Atkins as a governor, she added that Lesar can eventually be forced to narrow the scope of his work or retreat from his companies.

“You punish people who may never deal with wicked behavior,” Levinson said. “But there is a reason for this.”

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