Developer and environmental scofflaw gives big to Schwarzenegger

A Montana-based development firm with a history of environmental violations has donated $100,000 to the campaign of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has touted his support of environmental causes as he runs to replace Gov. Gray Davis.

Through his company Yellowstone Development LLC, Tim Blixseth of Rancho Mirage gave the $100,000 on Friday to Schwarzenegger's pro-recall campaign committee, which is not subject to the same campaign finance restrictions as the fund used by the actor-turned-candidate to seek the governor's office.

Blixseth's company, Yellowstone Mountain Club, is facing fines and other sanctions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality stemming from complaints in 2001 that the firm illegally dumped sediment into tributaries of the Gallatin River and filled nearby wetlands without permits. The violations covered hundreds of acres of wildlands.

Blixseth said he is close to settling the case, and suggested that complaints had been blown out of proportion. "Accusations are always louder than the verdict," he said.

Still, critics say they are concerned about both Blixseth's environmental record and his well-known methods for cultivating elected officials.

Blixseth, who made his fortune in the timber industry, said he gave Schwarzenegger the money after hearing him speak at a recent fund-raising event about the need to reform the state's workers' compensation system.

"I've just received my new workers' compensation bill for last month - it's atrocious," said Blixseth. "Schwarzenegger has vocalized many times about fixing it and I decided to help him."

Although a California resident, Blixseth is a well-known political contributor in Montana and counts the state's Republican governor, Judy Martz, among his close friends.

Blixseth said Monday that he never used his friendship with Martz to help ease his environmental troubles. But an Associated Press report from last year quoted Blixseth saying that he had called Martz frequently about the violations during a period in which Montana officials were deciding whether impose millions of dollars in fines on the company.

"If Schwarzenegger is governor would he be able to say no to the Tim Blixseths of the world?" said Carl Zichella, regional staff director of the California Sierra Club. "This is the kind of thing that makes us worry about the leadership Schwarzenegger would provide."

Zinchella also noted that Schwarzenegger has made a promise not to accept special-interest money. "But as far as we're concerned, they don't come any more special than guys like Tim Blizseth," he said.

Sean Walsh, spokesman for Schwarzenegger, said the campaign is "looking into the issues" surrounding Blixseth and his company but have not come to any conclusions.

John Arrigo, an administrator for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's enforcement division, said individual violations by the company were minor, but "when you put them all together it's pretty significant," he said. "We're were talking hundreds of acres."

In November 2001, the state fined Lone Moose Meadows LLC - a company of which Blixseth is part owner - $49,624 for failing to get the necessary permits before starting construction on a condominium and ski resort project.

In September of 2001, federal and state regulators accused Blixseth and his company of violations of both the Federal Clean Water Act and the Montana Water Quality Act. Those cases involve numerous violations on both the state and federal level connected to the constructions of the Yellowstone Mountain Club, a 13,400-acre ski resort, golf course and luxury home development, state officials said.

Blixseth said that he has done his share of environmental work too, noting that in the past he has donated thousands of acres to the Gallatin National Forest. "Anyone who wants to criticize my environmental record should do their homework," he said. "I've done a lot of conservation work."

On the Net:

California Secretary of State

Associated Press Writer Anna Oberthur contributed to this story.

Gray Davis' attack ad funded by toxic campaign cash.

* Gray Davis Should Look in the Mirror - If Gray Davis is looking for someone responsible for polluting our waterways, he needs to look no further than the mirror. He attacks others only to conceal his own poor record.

* Davis Allows Toxic Dumping in San Francisco Bay to Increase by Five Times - Last week, the San Jose Mercury News reported that just after Gray Davis received a $70,500 campaign contribution, a board stacked with Davis appointees reversed a previous decision and allowed Tosco to increase the amount of Dioxin it was allowed to dump into the San Francisco Bay.

* Gray Davis is Finally Completing the Pay-To-Play Circle - After extracting millions of dollars in campaign cash from polluters and paying them back with political favors, he is now forced to use that same money to defend his poor environmental record.

* Davis Allows New Offshore Drilling - Gray Davis says that he is against new offshore drilling, but according to his own Resources Agency (Department of Conservation), 11 new wells have been drilled from offshore oil platforms in state waters and 25 more existing wells have been deepened or re-drilled during the first two years of his administration.

* Davis Allows More Offshore Drilling - While serving as chairman of the California state Lands Commission, Gray Davis voted to approve the plan to move forward development of three inactive oil and gas leases in state waters in Santa Barbara County.

* Davis Allows Even More Offshore Drilling - On September 17, 2001, Davis' representative on the California State Lands Commission voted in favor of a proposal that would allow for drilling new wells from a federal platform into currently inactive state leases (Lease #4000 and #7911).

* Davis Allows Drilling Despite Warnings of Adverse Environmental Impact - The Davis appointee to the State Lands Commission voted in April 2002 to allow the Rincon Island offshore oil platform to move forward with plans to deepen or re-drill 15 existing wells and drill 21 new wells at its facility in state waters off the coast of Ventura County. And, the Davis appointee cast this vote just a few months after State Lands Commission staff presented the results of a Safety Audit of Rincon Island that found nearly 500 'deficiencies' of which nearly one-third 'represented a moderate to serious degradation or misuse of the facility creating high potential for injury, oil spill, or other adverse environmental impact.'

* Davis Takes Campaign Cash From Oil Companies - In the last four years since he became governor, he has taken more than $1 million in money from oil companies. He paints himself green, but the only green he has is toxic campaign cash.

* Davis Has Failed to Protect the Environment - Gray Davis has failed to protect the environment like he has mismanaged the budget and the energy crisis. He should stop spending 12 hours a day fundraising and cutting attack ads and start spending more time addressing the needs of the state.

* Davis Has Mismanaged Our State Beaches - On Davis' watch, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the number of ocean, bay and great lakes beach closings and advisories in California increased from at least 3,547 in 1999 to at least 5,780 in the year 2000.

http://www.library.ucla.edu/mgi/campaign/2002/cal/general/gov/simon/website/davis_toxic_cash.php.htm

Here are some more contributions to the Total Recall committee. A politician who accepts money does not necessarily have to grant favors to his benefactors. Davis does, which is part of the reason we're recalling him. Some people have gotten so accustomed lately to Davis' pay-to-play politics that they are surprised that any candidate could accept money or have money spent on him without being corrupted.

 Amount   Contributor                     Employer                        
$100,000  WILLIAM LYONS HOMES, INC.
$100,000  ALEX SPANOS                     A. G. SPANOS COMPANIES
$100,000  WILLIAM A. ROBINSON             NONE
$100,000  AMERICAN STERLING CORPORATION
 $50,000  AMERICAN STERLING CORPORATION
 $99,164  PAUL FOLINO                     EMULEX
 $40,000  PAUL FOLINO                     EMULEX
 $78,800  THE NEW MAJORITY PAC
 $25,000  THE NEW MAJORITY PAC
 $78,800  CAPITAL PACIFIC HOLDINGS, INC.
 $60,000  DIVERSIFIED COLLECTION SERVICES, INC.
 $57,600  R. HALL INVESTMENT PROPERTIES

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