Bonnie Garcia for Senate 2014 PO Box 2551 I Palm Desert, CA I

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1 Attorney General Kamala Harris Office of the Attorney General California Department of Justice Attn: Public Inquiry Unit P.O. Box Sacramento, CA May 12, 2014 Re: The political dealings of Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone Dear Attorney General Harris, I am writing you today to request that an investigation be launched into the political dealings of Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. Specifically, I am concerned that acting in his official capacity, Stone is mirroring behavior similar to that of the three State Senators who were recently indicted for public corruption; behavior that does not befit the residents of Riverside County. Stone is a well-known political bully who appears to be using his position as Chairman of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to punish critics, reward allies, manipulate governmental decisions and pursue his own political ambitions. Repeatedly, public records point to a votes-for-cash scheme. I am a 25+ year resident of Riverside County and no stranger to the challenges public officials face as I represented the area for six years as an Assemblywoman. When I launched a campaign for Senate I became his newest target. Over the last few months elected officials, community leaders and donors have quietly shared with me some of the ways in which he has violated the law. I started reviewing public documents, media reports and campaign disclosure reports and discovered a disturbing pattern that point to public corruption. Recently filed campaign filings coupled with the release of a Riverside Grand Jury report found multiple instances where cash flowed into campaign coffers benefitting Stone days after he sponsored or voted on controversial projects. His sister, a beautician by training and his business partner in at least 10 companies, also benefitted from his largess. Records show he voted on and directed hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to several county boards he had appointed her to, as well as a nonprofit board where she served as CEO. The media has reported that the nonprofit operated out of his official County office, and phone number. In 2009, the U-T San Diego revealed that Stone hired his sister as a volunteer and gave her a taxpayer funded vehicle and unfettered access to his official county office. For her efforts, his volunteer sister was

2 paid $330,000 in campaign money over a three year period, including a 2008 election year bonus of $130, While criticized for lax oversight, no other County Supervisor steered dollars to family members or used their official offices to allow family members to operate charitable organizations. More concerning is the fact that Stone s personal financial dealings are curiously tied to several of his campaign donors. At a recently televised Temecula City Council meeting, a community leader alleged that Stone may have improperly made a $189,000 profit from a nearly vacant commercial building where both the purchase and sale were arranged by one of his major campaign donors. Remarkably, during the worst of the economic recession when the building industry collapsed and 1 in 20 Inland Empire families faced the threat of losing their homes Stone bought and flipped the vacant property while still in escrow. 2 As Chairman of the Board, Supervisor Stone sits on a number of regional boards and maintains substantial sway over major decisions, given his ability to sign contracts behalf of the entire board. In this capacity, Stone has "fast tracked" projects for favored donors. Especially troubling is the clear pay-forplay pattern that is apparent from Stone s campaign disclosure forms. Documented in the following pages are examples of large campaign checks, deposited in accounts benefitting his State Senate campaign by parties with lucrative projects before the board. In a recent instance, Stone pushed a controversial development project for one of his major campaign donors despite strong opposition from the surrounding community. In addition, over the past few months the Board renewed several multi-million dollars contracts to existing vendors without seeking alternative contractors through a competitive bid process. In almost every instance, Supervisor Stone deposited checks from those vendors to into his account within days of casting his vote. The timing of campaigns donations are highly suspect and would suggest that Stone is engaging in special treatment of key campaign donors. In this letter I have included six specific examples of what I believe constitutes questionable behavior on behalf of Mr. Stone. This is not the first time that Jeff Stone has been accused of political corruption. In fact he has a long history of campaign violations and questionable ethics. In 2011, Stone agreed to pay a $16,000 fine to the FPPC after he failed to properly report $84,052 in contributions to his 2010 campaign for State Senate. 1 Rowe, Jeff. Stone says sister will remain on campaign. U-T San Diego, March 26, Temecula City Council Meeting. April 22,

3 In December 2010 a secret 14 count indictment was brought against a major Stone contributor who had given more than $66,400 in illegal contributions to Stone s 2010 Senate campaign and one other legislative candidate. 3 In June 2010 Taxpayers Advocate President Scott Barnett filed two formal complaints against Jeff Stone with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, accusing the Riverside County Supervisor of as many as forty violations of the state campaign finance law, including sponsoring and voting to donate funds to an organization that was his tenant in a property that he owns. He was fined $2,000 by the Fair Political Practices Committee for destroying campaign finance records from a previous State Assembly race in Stone was found to have destroyed a $40,000 cashier's check, which made it impossible to audit the finances of his previous Assembly campaign. In 1999, addition the California Attorney General filed twenty charges against Jeff Stone on behalf of the California Board of Pharmacy. Stone ultimately reached a settlement and pleaded guilty to five of the twenty charges and was required to pay $10,000 and had his pharmacy license placed on probation for three years. In the accusations filed by the Attorney General is a detailed overview of an inspection of Stone s pharmacy. In one of those inspections, Stone is caught lying about a conversation he had with a Riverside DEA agent. Jeff Stone is no different than the elected officials from the City of Bell or the three State Senators who violated the trust the voters placed in them. In the millions of dollars that he directed to charity over the years, he cleverly picked the pockets of taxpayers and buried sweetheart deals to family and friends. I am sure he will claim these charges are politically motivated as he did the last five times he broke the law and was found guilty. I believe the evidence speaks for itself. This is the first time all of the pieces have been gathered together and the full picture is disturbing. I live and work and in a community that was hard hit by the recession and many residents still work 2-3 jobs to stay afloat. Public corruption taints all of us that work hard to raise the tide for all Californians and we deserve a representative who keeps our best interest in mind. It is for this reason that I implore you to launch an investigation into the aforementioned claims. Sincerely, Bonnie Garcia 3 De Atley, Richard K. and Duane W. Gang. Plea bargain for Agri-Empire chief. The Press-Enterprise, February 16,

4 Examples of Stone s Questionable Conduct Example 1: Contributions Exceeding Legal Limits (Regent Properties, LLC and RANCON Real Estate) Supervisor Stone sponsored the fast tracking of a General Plan Amendment that sought a change in zoned use. The amendment was vehemently opposed by local residents. The fast tracking employed by Stone by-passes public hearings before the Planning Commission and sends it directly to the Planning Department for approval by the Board of Supervisors. If approved, the developer stood to make a fortune by increasing the commercial portion and squeezing more residential units than the current plan allowed. A timeline of key decisions pertaining to this matter and relevant campaign contributions can be found below: October 16, 2013 $4,100 to Jeff Stone for State Senate from Developer REGENT PROPERTIES, LLC 4 November 2, 2013 $4,100 to Jeff Stone from the Civil Engineers on the project, Albert A. Webb Associates Civil Engineers November 2, 2013 Jeff Stone for State Senate receives $10,200 in contributions from Project Partner, RANCON, one-day prior to Riverside County taking action on their project. Direct contributions from RANCON or controlled entities far exceed California campaign contribution limits. *All entities above are listed to Daniel L Stephenson can be checked either at or Heritage Square LP which has officially same address as RANCON. 5 November 3, 2013 Supervisor Jeff Stone and County Planning Department schedules project for hearing before the Board of Supervisors on December 10, 2013 December 10, 2013 Jeff Stone takes the lead advocating for rapid approval and Board approves companies.findthebest.com/l/ /heritage-square-l-p-in-murrieta-ca

5 April 22, 2014 $10,000 contribution from Regent Properties to Taxpayers Opposing Bonnie Garcia. Ms. Garcia is Jeff Stone s opponent in the Senate race 7 Example 2: Contracts for Contributions (Indignant Defense Service Contracts for Riverside County Valued at $40M) Service were provided by law offices of Barbara M. Brand, Juvenile Defense Panel (JDP), Virginia Blumenthal and Crime Defense Lawyers. The County sought to negotiate reduced fees for services and threatened vendors that if no agreement could be reached, their combined $40 million contracts would be put out to bid. Supervisor Jeff Stone took an aggressive stance in negotiations and as Chairman, is authorized to sign contracts. A timeline of key decisions pertaining to this matter and relevant campaign contributions can be found below: February 25, 2014 The Board of Supervisors approved a rate change and five (5) year extensions to existing contracts 8 March 1, 2014 The contract extension to be signed by Chairman of Board (Stone) March 17, 2014 $2,000 total contribution to Jeff Stone for Senate from Virginia M. Blumenthal made with two contributions each in the amount of $1,000. Blumenthal s contract with the County is valued at $3,145,000 $1,000 contribution from Criminal Defense Lawyers March 31, Agenda item from the Riverside County Planning Department: GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT NO 1110 CHANGE OF ZONE NO 7767 SPECIFIC PLAN NO 288 AMENDMENT NO 2 FAST TRACK : rivcocob.org/agenda/2014/02_25_14_files/03-28.pdf

6 $1,500 contribution from Criminal Defense Lawyers. Their contract with the County is valued at $2,127,499 9 Example 3: Contracts for Contributions (Haider Spine Center) The Haider Spine Center maintained a Medical Contractor Agreement with the County from , as part of the County s self-funded Exclusive Provider Option (EPO) to provide a value health plan option to County employees. 10 The contract with the Haider Spine Center contract with the County of Riverside expires May 31, The following contribution was made to Stone just months before the contract was set to expire: February 27, 2014 $8,200 Contribution from Haider Spine sent via check, each in the amount of $4,100 Example 4: Contracts for Contributions (Albert A. Webb Associates) Albert A. Webb Associates Civil Engineers is based in Riverside and works on many projects within the County. They made a maximum contribution in November 2, 2013 and contributed an additional $1,000 on March 7, Both contributions were made within days of their projects being approved, totally $5, November 2, 2013 Albert A. Webb Associates Civil Engineers contributes $4,100 maximum contribution to Stone for Senate (REGENT AND RANCON) March 7, 2014 Albert A. Webb Associates Civil Engineers contribute another $1,000 to Stone for Senate March 10, 2014 Riverside County Board of Supervisors Board Meeting Agenda item up for consideration: 15-1 TRANSPORTATION & LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY/PLANNING: GENERAL PLAN

7 AMENDMENT NO. 1127, (ENTITLEMENT/POLICY AMENDMENT) Christopher Development Group, Inc./Albert A. Webb Associates Example 5: Grand Jury Says Taxpayer Funds Used to Promote Incumbents According to a Riverside County Grand Jury report released on April 28, 2014, the County Supervisors use of discretionary funds conflicts with state law intended to deny incumbents an advantage over their opponents. 12 The jury said it found numerous examples where supervisors used public resources to enhance their visibility and name identification with potential voters. 13 Example 6: Political Appointment and Campaign Contributions Last year, Stone appointed Larry Markham to the Riverside County FAIRSCORE ("Facilitate Accredited Impartial Required Studies Competently Ordered by Riverside County Entities") committee. 14 Markham leveraged contributions to a pro-stone independent expenditure committee that was coordinated by Stone %20Political%20Reform%20and%20the%20Riverside%20County%20Board%20of%20Supervisors.pdf 13 Horseman, Jeff. Riverside County: Grand jury says taxpayer funds used to promote incumbents. The Press-Enterprise, April 29, riverside-county-grand-jury-says-taxpayer-funds-used-to-promote-incumbents.ece. 14 Board Convenes Committee to Scrutinize Environmental Review Process. My Valley News, January 8,