The East Bay Express reports in this story that Senate President Pro Tem Senate Don Perata may have launched the recall campaign against Republican Sen. Jeff Denham of Atwater to keep Sandi Polka, Perata's pal, on the political payroll.
Robert Gammon has this to say in the East Bay Express item:
"Campaign finance records show that Sandi Polka, the senator's main political consultant, has pocketed at least $283,364 from political committees involved in the effort to unseat Denham. Most of the money was for "political consulting," though it's not clear from campaign records exactly what Polka did to earn such large payments. Overall, the campaigns that paid Polka also spent at least $1,985,958 trying to remove Denham from office."
Although Perata says he has pulled the plug on the Denham recall, the question remains on the 12th District ballot. Voters still must vote the recall down to keep Denham in office.
Here's more from the East Bay Express:
"Polka has made more than $2.5 million in the past four years from campaigns run by or associated with the senator. Some Sacramento insiders believe that Polka has been secretly funneling some of that money to the senator's son, Nick Perata, and his best friend, Timothy Staples, to allow both of them to avoid scrutiny. Polka has refused to comment, but it would not be illegal to pay the younger Perata and Staples as subcontractors and not report it on campaign disclosure forms."
And we'll see Don Perata re-elected again and again. To me the voters are oblivious to the shenanigans and under the table these politicians carry out while in office. What we need is have the cameras and some irate voters from his district confront him as he comes out of his office in Scto.