Frazier Wrongfully Included in Campaign Finance Abuse Article

An article put out by Steven Harmon of the Contra Costa Times left a lot to be desired on Sunday as Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) was wrongfully included in the article “California campaign-finance reporting ripe for abuse” which hints he is breaking reporting rules and abusing campaign finance laws which could not be further from the truth.

It should be noted that Mr. Harmon failed to reach out to the Frazier camp to verify what was stated in the article which stated the following:

Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, listed two payments totaling $991 for Humphrey’s on the Delta, a steak and seafood restaurant at the Barbara Price Marina Park in Antioch — under the campaign paraphernalia/miscellaneous category. There were no details on what paraphernalia or miscellaneous items were bought there, nor how many people were fed.

For the record, the $991 were for renting the banquet room twice and providing o’devours while roughly 75-100 people attended each event. And if Mr. Harmon would actually tell the entire story, one event was held on the primary night while the other was on the Nov. 6 election night. Clearly, both events were campaign related as they were election night gatherings. This is no big deal and the fact that both were less than $500 each, Frazier should be applauded.

It should also be noted that the “hit piece” listed a number of Democrats that include:

• Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas
• Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord
• Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco
• Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose
• Former Assemblyman Joe Coto, D- San Jose
• Former state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto
• Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord
• Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco
• Sen. Bill Monning, D-Santa Cruz
• Former Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi,

Notice a tend? No republicans were identified!

Just off the top of my head, I could list numerous potential FPPC violations by Frazier’s opponent Mike Hudson (vice mayor of Suisun City) which the Times feels like ignoring. His events include a Shared Spoon fundraiser where Mr. Hudson would deliver food to a car for a tip where I highly doubt proper reporting occurred. Then there is also many events such as his “Sea Nymph” fundraiser, MJ’s Cafe, and of course the multiple Jelly Belly events.

This was a very lazy article which included Assemblyman Frazier for no reason other than the fact he is a Democrat. His spending was valid and I question the other accusations Mr. Harmon is trying to make as this article is nothing but propaganda that should be rejected.