Mayor Garcia Soliciting Contributions -- At Suggested Levels Up To $25,000 Each -- To Pay Debts Accumulated By His Garcia-Doud-Named Committee For "Good Gov't" Charter Amendments AAA-DDD, Schedules Downtown LB Fundraiser Later This Week

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(Dec. 11, 2018, 7:50 a.m.) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that Mayor Robert Garcia is soliciting large sums -- with suggested contribution amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 per contributor -- to pay debts owned by the ballot measure committee he operated (under the name Garcia-Doud committee to support good government measures AAA-DDD) while simultaneously requesting contributions of up to $1,000 each for his "officeholder account" (the largest contribution allowed for that committee.)

A fundraising event, scheduled at a downtown Long Beach location later this week, comes just weeks after Garcia loaned $100,000 from his unused 2018 re-election warchest to pay part of $200,000 in debts/unpaid bills owed by the separate committee he operates that ran the campaign for Charter Amendments AAA-DDD.

An email sent by Garcia's "officeholder account" committee and the Garcia-Doud "Committee to Support Good Government Measures AAA-DDD" (which displays his personal stylized "Robert Garcia for Mayor" and "Robert Garcia, Mayor" logos) asks recipients to "help us with our office holder account and to close out our campaign debt for our recently successful city ballot measures" with an attached flier suggesting contribution levels of $5,000 ("Super Supporter"), $1,000 ("Supporter") and $500 ("Friend").

But two attached contribution forms list different suggested contribution amounts. The contribution form for the Garcia-Doud "good government" committee has check-boxes for $25,000, $10,000, $5,000 and "other" contribution levels. The contribution form for Garcia's "officeholder account" lists $1,000 [maximum amount allowed by law], $500, $250 and "other" amounts.

In November, Garcia/Doud pro-AAA-DDD Committee treasurer Mark Taylor told LBREPORT.com "we expect the [AAA-DDD] Committee will pay back the loan[s] in the weeks ahead."

As previously reported in LBREPORT.com's "Follow the Money" coverage, the Garcia-run pro-AAA-DDD committee received $13,500 contributions after the November election (in addition to two-$50,000 loans from Garcia's 2018 re-election committee) and has since received a $1,000 contribution in December. By LBREPORT.com's unofficial calculation, that would bring the Garcia-Doud AAA-DDD's unpaid bills down to $89,069.

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In the June 2018 city election cycle, Mayor Garcia used the same committee (prior to adding Doud's name) to support a City Hall-desired utility revenue transfer. Two years earlier, Garcia gave his committee a different name (listing former Mayors O'Neill and Foster with Garcia) to run the campaign for the City Hall-sought Measure A sales tax increase. From July 1 through Nov. 6, 2018, his pro-AAA-DDD committee listed sums spent/expenses incurred of $265,263, some of which may have stemmed from its preceding Measure M campaign.

In addition to the November $100,000 received as a loan from Garcia's re-election committee, the Garcia/Doud pro-AAA-DDD committee has reported receiving these contributions after the Nov. 6 election:

November 13: $7,500 from "AES Pacific & Aggregated Contributions" AES Alamitos operates the power plant on Studebaker Rd. in SE LB.
Nov. 16: $5,000 from "Vopak North American and Subsidiaries" which operates storage tanks on Terminal Island within Port of LB area for "petroleum products, chemicals, biofuels."
Nov. 19: $1,000 from "Shoreline Development Partners LP" (San Diego). In October 2018, the firm broke ground on the NW corner Ocean/Alamitos for the tallest building approved thus far in LB (35 stories) adjacent to its completed 17 story The Current.

Dec. 6: $1,000 from Joseph Vanderhorst [listed as, Attorney Metropolitan Water District]

As of June 30, 2018, Garcia's officeholder account reported a cash balance of $3,567 while Garcia's 2018 re-electon campaign committee reported $189,403 cash on hand with no debts. In September 2018, Garcia used his unused campaign sums to make a $1,000 contributions to support Duarte for (Hacienda/La Puente) School Board and Solache for Lynwood City Council...and on October 31 made a $7,300 contribution to Ricardo Lara's campaign for Insurance Commissioner. By our unofficial calculation, that brought his 2018 re-election committee's cash on hand down to $180,103 before he loaned $100,000 from that sum to pay some of his AAA-DDD committee's unpaid bills.

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