PARENT LEADS SHARP-COLLINS IN FUNDRAISING FOR STATE ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 79 RACE, BUT CONFLICT OF INTEREST REPORTS STILL PLAGUE HIM

By Michael Howard

July 30, 2024 (La Mesa, CA) – As the two democratic candidates for State Assembly District 79 Colin Parent and LaShae Sharp-Collins prepare for the upcoming November 5 election, fundraising in the last three months is crucial.

Heading into the critical August through October time period, Parent has the clear lead in fundraising totals, collecting over double the amount of Sharp-Collins with $401,009 to her $195,824.

What becomes clear when looking at the contributions they’ve received is the difference in occupations of the donors. Setting aside for a moment the majority both campaigns raise through Political Action Committees (PACs), what remains is a clear picture of who are each candidate’s core donors.

In Sharp-Collin’s case, that would be individuals who report as not employed, retired, homemakers, educators, physicians, or professors. This core group of donors raised nearly 63% of her money outside of PACs, with $34,822 of the $55,655 non-PAC funds. Their average donation is approximately $328.50 per donation.

The makeup of Sharp-Collins core donors is uniquely aligned with her background as an educator, professor and community engagement specialist. Her key endorsements include Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber, a former educator herself, Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the California Democratic Party. 

Parent’s non-PAC donor occupations range from accountants, attorneys, real estate and real estate developers, executives, consultants, developers and retired folks. These donors make up 56% of donations outside of PAC money raised with $94,487 of the $167,490 non-PAC money. The donation average from these donors is approximately $721.27 per donation, or about double the average Sharp-Collins donations received outside of PAC money. 

This make-up of donors in Parent’s case also makes sense, given his background. After a stint as a commercial litigator and attorney, Parent shares on his campaign website that he worked in the housing and development sector for Governor Jerry Brown and as the Director of Policy at the San Diego Housing Commission. 

He currently serves as a La Mesa City Councilmember and the Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel at Circulate San Diego, a non-profit organization that offers planning, mobility certifications and public policy and advocacy around mobility issues, including affordable housing near transit stations, parking reforms and public transit improvements.

Parent’s key endorsements include 50th Congressional District Representative Scott Peters, State Assembly District 80 Assemblymember David Alvarez, a mixture of state senators and assembly members, and a noticeable list of labor unions. 

But Parent’s dual role as an elected official for the La Mesa City Council and CEO at Circulate San Diego have prompted several news outlets over the years to question whether there is a conflict of interest.

The conflict-of-interest concern centers around the sometimes overlap between his two roles where he has a vote in approving development projects for the City of La Mesa while at the same time his non-profit organization advocates for certain developments. The question is, will the money he receives on behalf of his organization unduly influence his voting as an elected official?

An example of this occurred in September of 2020 when Parent recused himself from a vote on a La Mesa transitional living and housing facility project after he drew criticism on social media for the fact the project developer was also a donor to his non-profit Circulate San Diego.

Then in May of 2023, Parent was in the news again when the San Diego Union Tribune and the OB Rag published reports of his lobbying and donor solicitation efforts. 

In the Union-Tribune story, the paper reported Parent solicited over $700,000 in donations for Circulate San Diego while serving as an elected official, which requires he fill out a “behest” disclosure form. “I carefully follow those requirements and file all the necessary behested forms,” he was quoted as saying. 

In the OB Rag piece, the author noted IRS rules restricting lobbying activities for non-profits yet found 57 instances of lobbying in the City of San Diego’s lobbyist registry for Circulate San Diego.

Neither story has stopped Parent as he heads toward this year’s election.  On its website, the City of La Mesa lists 22 instances of behest solicitations from Parent, totaling $249,300 going back to January 1, 2023. The most recent instance is dated July 10, 2024.

Circulate San Diego’s lobbying has continued too. The City of San Diego lists 12 instances of lobbying for Circulate San Diego between January 1, 2023 through April 22, 2024.

As Parent heads into the final stretch of his campaign, the crossover of donors between his non-profit organization Circulate San Diego and his campaign as State Assemblymember could be an area of concern, given his history. 

A cursory glance of Parent’s contributions finds at least eight donors who have donated to both his campaign and his non-profit organization Circulate San Diego. The donor names were included in his State of California campaign finance reporting and Circulate San Diego’s website.

The eight crossover donors are Clay Company, Cox Communications, Falcon Strategies, Rammy Urban Infill, MCSA, Stryker Slev Law Group, Rath Public Affairs, and Building Industry Association. These donors represent Parent’s core donor profile with a mixture of lobbyists, developers, attorneys and consultants.

In response to this article Parent provided these remarks:

"I am careful to recuse myself from any decision as a public official that might have an impact on my nonprofit employer Circulate San Diego. I routinely ask for advice from the La Mesa City Attorney, and recuse myself, whenever there is a potential for even an appearance of a conflict.

Like many employees of a nonprofit, some of my duties include fundraising to keep our organization going. California law requires that as an elected official, I file behested payment forms for any donations to nonprofits over $5,000 that I am involved with soliciting. This includes donations to my nonprofit employer Circulate. I scrupulously file all of the required forms with the La Mesa City Clerk, which are available for the public to view."

Aaron Amerling, a local activist and Parent critic, disagrees. “There have been multiple occasions where he has not recused himself when a Circulate San Diego donor has an item before the La Mesa City Council,” Amerling told East County Magazine. “The most recent of which was the Alvarado special project where he was the lone ‘Yes’ vote for what would have been the largest development in East County history,” Amerling said of  the project that would have been located off the Interstate 8 freeway, but was denied by the La Mesa City Council on May 9, 2023. 

Sharp-Collins replied to this story with a statement that said, in part, 

“This is a people’s campaign. l will continue to meet my constituents where they are, to make sure that they have a strong voice in Sacramento. Together, our voices equal power and the ability to make the changes we need.” 

You can find her full statement here.

As November 5 draws closer, voters will need to decide which of the two candidates will best represent their interests. And in Parent’s case, whether a history of questions about conflict of interest are enough to sway voters to Sharp-Collins.

But, in either case, whomever the voters choose to represent District 79 come November, the money behind the candidate will more than likely account for their win.

SOURCES

Amerling, A. (2020, October 29). READER’S EDITORIAL: LA MESA CANNOT TRUST COLIN PARENT | East County Magazine. https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/reader%E2%80%99s-editorial-la-mesa-cannot-trust-colin-parent

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Page, G. (2023, May 31). Circulate San Diego’s Undue Influence at City Hall and Lobbying for Legislation Violate Non-Profit Rules. OB Rag. https://obrag.org/2023/05/circulate-san-diegos-undue-influence-at-city-hall-and-lobbying-for-legislation-violate-non-profit-rules/

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Twitter, Email, & Facebook. (2023, May 7). La Mesa vice mayor, now running for state Assembly, solicited $700,000 in donations to his own nonprofit. San Diego Union-Tribune. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2023-05-07/la-mesa-colin-parent-circulate-san-diego-behested-payments

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