Friday, November 20, 2020

Leader of California's NAACP to step down amid claims of conflict of interest related to recent ballot measure endorsements

LA Times:

[Her] departure comes as she’s facing scrutiny for her work on various ballot measure campaigns in the November 2020 election. Huffman leads AC Public Affairs, a Sacramento political consulting firm, which this past election worked with opposition campaigns on five ballot measures, according to state campaign finance records.

AC Public Affairs took in $740,000 from the campaign opposed to Proposition 15, which was funded by business groups. The measure, which was rejected by voters, would have raised business property taxes to increase funding for schools and local services. Landlord groups and other opponents of Proposition 21 paid [her] company $620,000 this year to help fight a rent control measure, which also fell short.

The bail bond industry’s campaign against Proposition 25 paid [her] company $200,000 to oppose a plan to abolish California’s cash bail system. The measure failed. [She] also sided with ride-sharing companies that backed Proposition 22, which was approved by voters and will allow the companies’ drivers to remain independent contractors, receiving $95,000 for consulting services. Her opposition to Proposition 23, an effort to impose new rules on kidney dialysis companies that was rejected by voters, netted her company $85,000.