Category Archives: Rep. Tim Grayson

Seenos, Grayson, Concord Police join with Christian Nationalist PAC to support Concord Council candidate

[Editor: PLEASE NOTE CORRECTION – On Sep 25, I received an email from Lisa Tucker of the Tim McGallian for Concord City Council Campaign. According to Tucker, “Concord Council Member Tim McGallian has not endorsed Robert Ring for city council. In fact, Mr. McGallian has endorsed his colleague, Council Member Laura Hoffmeister.” Other claims in the article remain, and are highly significant – please continue reading! – R.S.]

Concord Police and Theocratic Nationalists Endorse Same Council Candidate

IndyBay.org, Open-Publishing Newswire, by News You Can Use, September 23, 2022

Candidate Robert Ring is endorsed by the Concord Police Department for the District 1 council seat. Robert Ring also has the support of the American Council, a Christian Nationalist PAC which is supporting like-minded candidates in city council and school board races.
sm_ring_has_christian_nationalist_support.jpg

The Concord Police Officer’s Association have gone all in on Robert Ring. Concord’s fourth district has 3 candidates, and Robert Ring is their guy. During last month’s Contra Costa County TV forum for D1 candidates, He touted his double endorsement from the Police Association and the Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney’s Association. Ring said “I am the candidate of law and order.” Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN-KtPXDnzs

As part of his platform, Robert Ring proposes raising the pay of the police department. Ring acknowledges that 57% of the Concord city budget goes to the police, but he is calling for an increase for pay and for equipment. Ring has not explained where the money for such an increase in police spending is going to come from.

Robert Ring received $1,500 from the police association. It’s an investment. Need to spend to money to make money.

Ring is the “law and order” candidate. What guides his sense of what that phrase means? Is he guided by the “Book of American Laws” (She-Hulk reference, I couldn’t resist) or could Ring be guided by some particular religious sense of “law and order”?

Robert Ring received a payment of one-thousand dollars from a Christian Nationalist PAC called the The American Council for Evangelicals (or just The American Council for short). The American Council is a California based PAC that is trying to place candidates in city councils and school boards. They have candidates who are sympathetic to their theocratic values. The American Council is mobilizing to seat candidates who believe American is a Christian nation, and should be governed by their ultra-Conservative interpretation of the Bible. Robert Ring is one of those theocratic nationalist candidates.

On the subject of LGBTQ+ rights, the American Council does not approve of homosexuality nor same-sex marriage. The PAC believes that liberal attitudes of supporting the the LGBTQ+ community are damaging. They believe American society has compromised too much to the LGBTQ+ community. They believe these compromises are separating America from God.

Their stated goal is “mobilizing people of faith to pursue revival and reformation in America.” (https://www.theamericancouncil.com) These are right-wing Evangelicals who want to Make American Great Again. Former Trump senior adviser Kayleigh McEnany is headlining the American Council Gala. This is a fundraiser to “fight for Biblical values in in legislation and the ballot box”. (Info here:  https://americancouncil.ticketspice.com/the-american-council-gala) This is a theocratic fascist political movement, and Robert Ring is the candidate for “law and order” in Concord.

The general council for the American Council is Denise Grace Gitsham: a former White House aide for George W Bush, a public speaker at CPAC, and Trump supporter. Advising the American Council is Kelly Kullberg, who organized a far-right astroturfing network called the Kullberg Network. This was a 2020 pro-Trump campaign used to spread conspiracy theories, anti-Islamic sentiment and racial propaganda. This White Christian Nationalist effort also operated sock-puppet social media accounts for “Blacks for Trump”.  (Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/news/2020/11/03/kullberg-network-reemerges) Robert Ring received $1000 dollars from this organization. Robert Ring is the “law and order” candidate. The Concord Police Officers association has fully endorsed him.

Who else has endorsed Robert Ring? Sitting councilperson for Concord’s first district Tim McGallian. [See correction above.]  Ring also has the

Robert Ring for Concord City Council – I am grateful to have the endorsement of Assemblymember Tim Grayson….Thank you for support, Tim!

endorsement of Assembly-member (CA 14) Tim Grayson, a former city council member and an Evangelical preacher. Grayson was a Republican, who cleverly ran as a Democrat to get his seat on the state Assembly. Here’s a photo of Grayson and the “law and order” candidate: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=124613253684238

The Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council also endorse Ring. Ring is Pro-Seeno. The Seeno family of developers are in negotiation with the city of Concord to develop the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Ring’s two opponents are both against Seeno, as is the general public. The Seeno deal has become a huge scandal, with allegations of bribery and organized-crime tactics. Oh, the police association is also involved with this scandal, as they have openly supported Seeno. Why are the police involved in a construction and development matter? That’s a good question, which seems to involve some kind of quid pro quo. Ring’s the “law and order” candidate.

Christian Nationalists are supporting Robert Ring. The cops like him, too. The 2 Tims – McGallian [See correction above.] and Grayson – are all in on Ring. The endorsements and the checks are coming in…. Ring-A-Ding-DIng! Ka-ching!

sm_cpd_funding_christian_nationalist.jpg

Here is the contribution from the Concord Police Officers Association. They either didn’t do their research before choosing their candidate, or they did their research and they like what they see. After donating, they gave their official endorsement.

The Concord police do not have civilian oversight..

Stay tuned for more. Oh yes, there will be more!

BREAKING: Non-delivery of California Voter Information Guide

“…everyone is very jumpy about this election and not to have information in a timely manner is problematic.”  – Constance Beutel

By Roger Straw, September 30, 2020
Click the image to download the online version of the official Voter Guide.

People are voting already, but many are doing so without the aid of the official California Voter Information Guide that details state races and propositions.  The guide is mailed to voters before every election, and reportedly went out in “early September.”

Constance Beutel alerted me this afternoon.  She had been watching for her Voter Guide, checked around, and found others here in Benicia in the same situation.

Beutel phoned the offices of our County Supervisor Monica Brown, State Senator Dodd, and State Assembly Representative Tim Grayson and found out that some if not all staff there had also not received their Voter Guide!  All said they would look into it.

Stay tuned…

With permission, here is Beutel’s letter to Tim Grayson staffer Jana Modena:

From: CONSTANCE BEUTEL
Sent: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, 01:56:16 PM PDT
Subject: No Official Voter Information Guide

I’ve just spoken with Tom Bartee letting him know that I have not received the official California Voter Information Guide. I am not the only one in Benicia in this situation. I do have my official ballot.

I called my County Supervisor’s office and learned that the Sec of State sends this guide out so I then called the Sec of State’s office and waited about 20 minutes to speak to the elections division. I was then told that the guides were mailed in early September and a guide would be mailed to me within the next 5 to 10 days. I asked if this would also apply to all of Benicia. The woman who was answering the phone said, “no.”

Mr. Bartee indicated that he had not received his guide either.

As we all know, everyone is very jumpy about this election and not to have information in a timely manner is problematic!

Please let the Assemblyman know of this problem and expedite a solution.

I await your reply.

thank you

Constance

Benicia Rep. Grayson’s campaign financial report

Tim Grayson’s re-election campaign gave $30,000 to state Dem party

VALLEJO TIMES-HERALD, January 7, 2020

Assemblyman Tim Grayson’s re-election campaign spent more than it took in during the month of December, according to a contributed report submitted to the California Secretary of State.

The campaign gave $30,000 to the California Democratic Party on Dec. 30, and $4,700 to the Jones-Sawyer for Assembly 2020 campaign.

Reginald Jones-Sawyer is seeking re-election to the California State Assembly District 59, which represents most of South Los Angeles. State contribution rules cap the donations from individuals, businesses, and political action committees at $4,700 per election for state Senate and Assembly candidates.

Grayson’s campaign also donated $1,100 to the Democratic Party of Contra Costa on Dec. 11, contribution reports show.

The campaign received $2,000 each from the DuPont chemicals company, PepsiCo food company, $1,700 from the Zenith Insurance Company, $1,500 each from Firefly, and Zuffa, LLC.

It also reported receiving $1,300 from Allstate Insurance Company, $1,300 from Mallinckrodt pharmaceutical company, and $1,000 each from the John Edward (Jed) York & Affiliated Entities, including the Forty Niners Football Company, LLC, and Verizon.

Grayson is seeking a third term representing California State Assembly District 14, which includes the cities of Vallejo, Benicia, Martinez, Concord, Pleasant Hill, among others.

He is running unopposed.

Benicia Rep. Grayson: How will he thank corporate oil for large campaign donations?

By Roger Straw, August 14, 2019

Tim Grayson, 14th California Assembly District

Tim Grayson is Benicia’s Representative in the California State Assembly.  First elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2018, he has begun campaigning for a final term in 2020.  The primary election is set for March 3, and Tim is well on his way to a huge advantage, having raised over $285,000 in the first half of 2019.

An August 14 report in the Vallejo Times-Herald detailed Grayson’s 2019 campaign contributors , including that he “received donations from several petroleum and energy resources businesses, including Valero Services, Inc. ($2,000)….”

Valero wasn’t alone.  The following Big Oil & Energy companies were generous to Tim this year:

OIL OR GAS COMPANY AMOUNT
Chevron Corporation and its Subsidiaries/Affiliates $4,700
Valero Services, Inc. $2,000
Tesoro Companies, Inc. $1,000
Signal Hill Petroleum, Inc. $1,000
Seneca Resources Company, LLC $1,000
Phillips 66 Company, LLC $1,000
PBF Holding Company, LLC $1,500
Macpherson Oil Company $1,500
E & B Natural Resources Management Corporation $2,000
California Independent Petroleum Association PAC
(Note: Vallejo Times-Herald reported only $2,500, but there were 2 additional non-monetary donations, totaling $4,650)
($4,650)
TOTAL FROM OIL & ENERGY $20,350

I created a downloadable excel spreadsheet listing of all of Grayson’s 2019 contributions (source: California Secretary of State).

Bill Dodd, 3rd California Senate District

It is interesting to compare Grayson’s war chest with that of Benicia’s State Senator, Bill Dodd.  According to the California Secretary of State, Dodd has taken ZERO DOLLARS from the oil & energy industry in 2019.  Here’s Dodd’s downloadable excel spreadsheet.

Both of Benicia’s representatives have already taken in huge amounts for their re-election in 2020: Grayson over $285,000 and Dodd over $330,000.  Both have received contributions from a wide variety of corporate and organizational interest groups, including many political action committees (PACs).

It is a fair question to ask, how will our representatives in Sacramento thank their big donors?