Category Archives: Lionel Largaespada

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Polling companies decline to provide Benicia with survey questions

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[Editor – Thanks to Times-Herald reporter John Glidden for requesting poll questions and call data from Valero. The polling companies refuse to comply with City Attorney McLaughlin’s request, but Valero paid for the poll and thus owns the poll information. So far, not a word from Valero. BUT… guess what. There’s a NEW campaign phone poll going around, openly promoting 2 of Kari Birdseye’s opponents and smearing her.  My guess is that the wording for this new poll is based squarely on the results of Valero’s incendiary push poll.  Sponsors of the new poll and the candidates they endorse are benefiting from Valero’s shady research.  – R.S.]

Polling companies decline to provide survey questions

By JOHN GLIDDEN , October 11, 2018 at 4:17 pm

BENICIA — The City Council will strategize in closed session once again about an alleged “push poll” incident after two polling firms have refused to provide a copy of the survey questions that were asked to residents in September.

Gary Winuk, with the Los Angles-based Kaufman Legal Group, which represents Research America and EMC Research, sent a three-page letter to City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin on Wednesday arguing that the council’s request for the questions was improper.

“This requested disclosure of information is particularly inappropriate where the city is making the request and the poll explored subject responses to statements regarding City Council candidates whose campaigns are being personally supported by current members of the council,” Winuk wrote. “The city should not place itself in the position of immersing itself in the back and forth of electoral politics by attempting to force the public disclosure of confidential poll information.”

Vice Mayor Steve Young reported in a Sept. 20 letter first published by the Benicia Independent that he received such a survey call, with the questions allegedly smearing Benicia council candidate Kari Birdseye while championing fellow council candidate Lionel Largaespada.

Asked for comment about Wednesday’s letter and Winuk’s assertion of impropriety by the council, Young said all the councilors have endorsed candidates in the council race.

“However,  I imagine they may be targeting me since I was one of the Benicia voters who actually received and took the poll, and then reported on the nature of the questions. Fortunately, there are many more people who reported not only receiving the poll, but also confirming the biased nature of the questions,” Young wrote in an email to the Times-Herald. “The attorneys claim it is not a push poll, but by simply complying with the City’s request to provide a complete list of the questions, that question could be put to rest. Now, all we have is their word.”

Young has called the survey a “push poll,” which is a type of survey meant to influence voters instead of gathering objective survey information from those called.

Representatives from the Valero Benicia Refinery have already admitted to Benicia City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin that the refinery paid for the polling that was carried out by the polling firms Research America, and EMC Research.

Young said he doesn’t know if Winuk represents Valero as well.

“We have not heard anything directly from Valero; only a conversation between the City Attorney and Valero General Manager Don Wilson in which Wilson admitted Valero paid for the poll,” Young added. “And since they did pay for the poll, the requested information should be their property, and be made available to the city.”

Wilson has not returned requests by this newspaper for comment on the poll and a copy of the survey questions.

Winuk further reiterated in his Wednesday letter that the poll was done to gather feedback from Benicia voters “on issues relevant to the upcoming election.”

The Benicia City Council met in closed session on Oct. 2 to talk about the survey and whether it may have violated the city’s municipal code when the pollsters failed to state who paid for the polling. Winuk has maintained that the poll was not a campaign communication and thus didn’t need a “paid-for” disclaimer.

Councilors at that time directed Mc Laughlin to investigate and find out who paid for the polling and receive a copy of the questions asked.

The Council is scheduled to meet in closed session on Tuesday.

"Push poll", Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, EMC Research, Kari Birdseye, Legal action, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections, Local Regulation, Research America, Steve Young, Tom Campbell, Valero Benicia Refinery

Campbell wanted to sue immediately over push poll; Largaespada defends himself

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[BenIndy Editor: I believe that no current Benicia City Council candidate was involved in nor favors push polls. But the reason for Valero to smear one candidate and lift another is clear. Valero can’t be unaware that Mr. Largaespada stood firm with Valero and against the will of the people during the controversial Crude by Rail debate in 2014-16. Planning Commissioner Kari Birdseye voted with the unanimous decision to stop Valero “in its tracks.” Valero has every reason – and every right – to openly and fairly voice its preference. But to secretly fund dirty tricks to achieve its goal is a tactic that should be soundly criticized by all candidates. I’ll vote for Birdseye, and hope that our next Council will include 3 women for the first time ever.  – RS]

Campbell sought tougher response to push poll incident

By John Glidden, October 8, 2018 at 5:51 pm
Tom Campbell

BENICIA — Days after the Benicia City Council met in closed session directing City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin to seek answers about a controversial polling incident, speculation swirled on which councilor voted against the move.

Councilman Tom Campbell confirmed he was the lone “no” vote in the Oct. 2 closed session decision.

“I wanted a stronger response than the rest of the council members wanted,” Campbell explained in an email to the Times-Herald.

The City Council authorized Mc Laughlin to contact Research America and EMC Research about their respective roles in a series of phone calls made to residents in September. Research America conducted the polling, which included questions about the city’s current council candidates.

The polling firm said EMC hired them, and just last week, Mc Laughlin confirmed that the Valero Benicia Refinery sponsored the entire polling.

Steve Young

Vice Mayor Steve Young, and other residents, have stated they received one of the survey calls which allegedly smeared council candidate Kari Birdseye while championing fellow council candidate Lionel Largaespada. Young called the survey a “push poll,” a type of survey meant to influence voters instead of gathering objective survey information from those called.

Councilors expressed concern that since the survey calls didn’t provide a “paid for by” disclaimer at the end of the phone calls the survey may have violated the city’s municipal code. A claim the polling firms have denied through their lawyer.

Campbell, who led the charge for the present campaigning ordinance in the municipal code, said he wanted immediate action in response to the poll.

“What I wanted was that the council authorize the city attorney to immediately go to Superior Court, file an injunction/lawsuit against the pollster and subpoena the records from EMC on who paid for it, how much, and what the exact questions were,” Campbell wrote in the same email. “The council took a little softer line than I wanted. I felt we had to act now to obtain the information as quickly as possible before the Nov. election.”

Lionel Largaespada

Largaespada issued a statement on Sunday in response to the news that Valero paid for the polling.

“I was very disappointed to learn that Valero sponsored the recent polling in Benicia,” he wrote in an email to this newspaper. “As I previously stated, I was not involved in any way with this polling effort, and I did not know who was conducting it.

“As I also stated, push polling, or any misrepresentation of a candidate’s stance or ideals is not something that I support in any way,” he added. “I hope that Valero will provide the content of the poll so that this issue can be resolved.”

Largaespada, who has expressed support in the past for the “crude by rail” initiative, also defended himself from comments made online by residents.

“To the commenters on Nextdoor that have suggested that I am in favor of this type of tactic, or that I am a ‘tool’ or ‘mouthpiece’ for Valero — these comments are completely false and without merit,” he wrote. “I understand that issues involving Valero are polarizing in our community, but to say that because someone believes differently than you do about an issue makes them a ‘tool’ for an entity is nothing more than name-calling.”

Mc Laughlin was also tasked by the council to obtaining a copy of the poll questions. In a letter she sent Research America, and EMC, last Friday, she gave them 72 hours to send a copy of the questions to her office.

Mc Laughlin said she didn’t have a copy of the poll questions as of Monday afternoon and was told she would get a response to her request on Wednesday.

"Push poll", Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, Benicia Municipal Code, EMC Research, Heather McLaughlin, Benicia City Attorney, Kari Birdseye, Legal action, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections, November election, Research America

Valero paid for smear campaign, survey attorney claims it was not a “push poll”

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[Editor:  Download City Attorney’s Oct. 5 letter here.  – R.S.]

Valero refinery sponsored survey calls, Benicia City Attorney says

By John Glidden, October 5, 2018 at 5:32 pm

BENICIA — The mystery of who sponsored a poll to survey Benicia residents about the upcoming City Council election has been solved.

Officials with the Valero Benicia Refinery confirmed to Benicia City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin on Thursday that Valero authorized the polling.

Mc Laughlin revealed the information in a formal letter she sent the Los Angeles-based Kaufman Legal Group. A copy of Mc Laughlin’s letter was provided to this newspaper.

Valero Benicia Refinery General Manager Don Wilson couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday.

Mc Laughlin was ultimately responding to a letter Kaufman attorney Gary S. Winuk sent the city on Monday defending Research America, Inc. and EMC Research.

A representative from Research America, a data collection company, previously confirmed to the Times-Herald that the firm was hired to gather polling information for EMC.

Contacted by phone on Friday afternoon, Winuk didn’t want to confirm if Kaufman is representing both Research America and EMC Research.

“I don’t have anything to say about it,” Winuk said before abruptly hanging up the phone.

Several Benicia residents, including Vice Mayor Steve Young, said they received a phone call from a group — later identified as Research America, Inc. — asking to conduct a survey about the City Council, senatorial and gubernatorial contests.

However, Young, said that most of the questions centered on Benicia City Council candidates Kari Birdseye and Lionel Largaespada.

“The statements about Mr. Largaespada were uniformly positive and stated how, for example, he would use his small business background to improve the city’s economy and relations with its businesses,” Young wrote in a Sept. 20 letter published by the Benicia Independent. “The statements about Ms. Birdseye were the opposite. Among these statements were ‘She wants to shut down Valero, costing hundreds of jobs,’ and ‘She will bring radical left-wing politics to City Hall.’”

Young said the survey was a “push poll,” a type of survey meant to influence voters instead of gathering objective survey information from those called.

Winuk in his Monday letter denied that the survey was a “push poll.”

“The public opinion research survey in question was designed to gather feedback from local voters on issues relevant to the upcoming election. It involved a robust sample methodology, designed to achieve a random sampling of likely voters from within the city of Benicia,” Winuk wrote.

He further said 256 randomly selected likely voters from within Benicia were contacted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 20 to participate in the survey.

In response to the calls, the Benicia City Council met in closed session on Tuesday. A majority of the council directed Mc Laughlin to contact Research and EMC Research about the survey, and ask for a copy of the questions and provide information on who paid for the poll. She was also directed to contact the California Fair Political Practices Commission about the calls.

At issue is the alleged failure of the companies to disclose who paid for the poll — a violation of the Benicia Municipal Code.

“From the reports I received, the polling by your clients may have contained “push” questions without disclosing the payor and amount spent,” Mc laughlin wrote in her letter to Winuk. “The caller also did not provide a ‘paid for by’ disclaimer at the end of the phone calls.”

Winuk previously said the poll was not a campaign communication, and “did not require any disclaimer and did not violate any federal, state or local laws, including the provisions of the Benicia Municipal Code.”

Mc Laughlin’s Friday letter officially requested a copy of the poll questions.

“In order to avoid having to issue a subpoena, I would ask that you voluntarily provide a copy of the poll questions to me within the next 72 years,” Mc Laughlin wrote to Winuk.

She also requested an itemized invoice which shows the times, dates and number of calls made. Finally, she asked that Winuk file disclosure reports for any future push polls, which meet the definition of an independent expenditures, and also ensure a disclaimer is provided with the calls.

“The city believes strongly that an open, fair and truthful election process is essential to promoting and improving public trust in the election process,” she wrote. “The city also believes that candidates should have meaningful opportunities to respond to claims about their qualifications and positions on issues.”

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Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald

Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

By JOHN GLIDDEN, October 3, 2018 at 5:55 pm

BENICIA — Fearing an outside group or person is attempting to negatively influence the City Council elections, councilors took action Tuesday night.

The council in closed session directed City Attorney Heather McLaughlin to contact the California Fair Political Practices Commission in response to a series of calls residents received that some say smeared one of the council candidates.

“When an outside force appears to be engaging in activities that are outside of the ordinance and not disclosing who they are — I think we have no choice but to move forward,” Vice Mayor Steve Young said in the meeting.

Several residents, including Young, have received a phone call from Research America, Inc., asking to conduct a survey about the City Council, senatorial and gubernatorial contests. However, Young says that most of the questions centered on candidates Kari Birdseye and Lionel Largaespada.

“The statements about Mr. Largaespada were uniformly positive and stated how, for example, he would use his small business background to improve the city’s economy and relations with its businesses,” Young wrote in a Sept. 20 letter published by the Benicia Independent. “The statements about Ms. Birdseye were the opposite. Among these statements were ‘She wants to shut down Valero, costing hundreds of jobs,’ and ‘She will bring radical left-wing politics to City Hall.’”

A representative with the data collection company Research America previously confirmed to the Times-Herald that the business was hired to conduct the survey by EMC. Representatives with that group didn’t return calls for comment.

McLaughlin was also directed Tuesday to contact Research America, Inc. and EMC Research about the survey, and ask for a copy of the questions asked and provide information on who paid for the poll.

At issue is the alleged failure of the companies to disclose who paid for the poll — a violation of the Benicia Municipal Code.

Many have called the survey a push poll. Such polls are meant to sway public opinion instead of recording objective information from those surveyed.

Councilman Tom Campbell also spoke during Tuesday’s meeting stating that residents support having fair elections in town.

Campbell, who spearhead a campaign reform initiative in 2009, said he got 1,200 signatures during that time with only five people expressing doubt about the initiative. The rest supported the item, he said.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people want the same thing. They want to be fairly informed of who is actually backing a candidate. They want the elections to be clean, and they want people, who spend money on elections, to disclose how much money they spent,” he said Tuesday.

Campbell further said that if Research America and EMC won’t provide answers that are necessary for the city to go to court for those answers.