Chevron spends $3 million in attempt to sway Richmond voters
By Carolyn Jones
Published 1:39 pm, Saturday, November 1, 2014
Chevron has spent $72 per registered voter in Richmond to push its slate of candidates for City Council and mayor in Tuesday’s election — more than a minimum wage worker brings home after a full day’s work in this blue-collar city.
The oil giant’s $3 million in political contributions are also funding a powerful opposition campaign against candidates it sees as critics, one of whom is Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles. She has raised campaign funds that amount to about 85 cents per each of the 41,894 registered voters.
The multinational corporation’s political involvement has created a David-versus-Goliath effect with Chevron-backed candidates starring in television ads, glossy mailers and stunning advertising billboards that tower above the city streets, while the non-Chevron candidates squeak by on small donations from residents and door-to-door canvassing by volunteers.
“It’s an obscene amount of money to spend influencing a local election,” said Daniel Newman, president of MapLight, a Berkeley nonprofit that charts election spending nationwide. “But it shows how much is at stake for Chevron.”
Chevron, the city’s largest employer and taxpayer, has been in Richmond for more than a century. Permits, health and safety regulations, taxes and community benefits like job training and local hiring are among the issues the city and Chevron haggle over. Chevron is facing a lawsuit from the city over the 2012 refinery fire that sent 15,000 local residents to the hospital. The suit alleges Chevron showed “willful and conscious disregard for public safety” and demands compensation for the cost of cleanup, emergency response, public harm and other expenses. The lawsuit could potentially cost Chevron hundreds of millions of dollars. The refinery is also in the midst of a modernization overhaul that requires city approval.
Councilman Tom Butt says he’s not surprised Chevron has spent so much on the election.
“Chevron controlled the City Council until about six years ago (when the council shifted left), and I’m sure they’d very much like to be in that position again,” Butt said. “If they can spend $3 million and save $30 million, that’s a pretty good deal for them.”
Butt is running for mayor against the Chevron-backed Nathaniel Bates, who like Butt is a longtime councilman.
Chevron’s $3 million has been funneled through a political action committee called Moving Forward, which is backing Bates for mayor, plus Charles Ramsey, Donna Powers and Al Martinez for City Council. If all are elected, Chevron-backed candidates would have a majority on the seven-member council.
Opposition campaign
Moving Forward has also spent hundreds of thousands on an opposition campaign to defeat incumbent Beckles, retired teacher Eduardo Martinez and termed-out Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, who’s running for a seat on the council.
The $3 million Chevron has poured into the mayoral and council races is double what it spent in the city’s 2012 election.
This time around, Chevron’s money has helped pay for $316,000 worth of billboard advertising, thousands of glossy mailers and phone calls, and $400,000 worth of political strategies conceived by a San Francisco public relations firm.
Chevron referred all calls about the election to Moving Forward spokeswoman Alex Doniach.
“Moving Forward believes that this is an important election for Richmond’s future,” said Doniach, who works for a San Francisco public relations firm. “Voters deserve to have enough information on the candidates so they can make informed decisions about who is best able to lead Richmond.”
Doniach would not comment on the amount that Chevron has spent in the election or why Moving Forward is backing certain candidates and opposing others.
Bates, 83, who has been on the council for 35 years, said it’s understandable that Chevron would spend so much to see the right people elected.
“Chevron has a heavy investment in this community,” Bates said. “But some people would rather throw rocks and see them run out of town. In their minds, Chevron can do no right.”
Bates said he favors a more cooperative relationship with the oil giant.
“If I’m elected, I will sit down with Mr. (Chevron CEO John) Watson so we can look at how we can help each other,” Bates said. “It can be win-win, but you can’t do that if you’re negative and anti-Chevron.”
Chevron, based in San Ramon, is one of the world’s largest oil companies, with revenue in 2013 topping $213 billion, according to the firm’s financial reports. Its Richmond operation — one of the largest oil refineries in the country, processing 240,000 barrels of crude oil daily — has about 2,700 engineers, technicians and other employees, according to Chevron.
Bates’ opponent, Butt, 70, agreed that having a good relationship with Chevron is important. After all, the refinery is not likely to leave and is undergoing a costly modernization overhaul that will require years of permit and regulatory haggling.
'Money buys access’
But city leaders should not be afraid to stand up to Chevron on matters such as public health and safety, taxes, environmental quality and community services, he said. The most recent community-benefits package, for example, included $90 million worth of scholarships for Richmond youth, solar panel projects, job training and other programs to help Richmond residents, thanks to a strong stand from the City Council, Butt said. The package was significantly higher than what Chevron originally proposed and a huge boon for the city, where the average per capita income is just over $24,000 annually, according to the 2010 U.S. census.
“I’d work with Chevron, not for Chevron,” said Butt, who has raised about $50,000 for the mayoral campaign — or a little more than $1 per registered voter.
San Jose State political science Professor Larry Gerston said heavy corporate spending in local elections can be very effective, especially in low-turnout elections.
“Money buys access to voters. ... The idea is to overwhelm the other side,” he said. “And if you’re Chevron, a major stakeholder in Richmond, of course you want a council that will be more open to you. Does it work? Sometimes. But not all the time.”
Carolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: carolynjones@sfchronicle.com