SPECIAL ELECTION EDITION 

tributions as indicated in the name 
of the PAC. 

The origins of CFBG and their 
interest in Measure HR on the 
other hand is not clear other than 
the fact that as of the October filings, 
the only Sierra Madre connection 
is Hood and his $15,600 
contribution. 

There has been no disclosure of 
where the $5,000.01 dollars originated 
because upon review of 
PAC+ records there is nothing in 
their filings to date to indicate that 
money was actually given to CFBG 
or the source. PAC+ has contributions 
listed in a previous filing 
with money received from another 
Recipient Committee named Powerpac.
org Voter Fund, a Sponsored 
Committee of Powerpac.org ID 
No. 1353459. There are no apparent 
Sierra Madre connections to 
either. 

Both are categorized as recipient 
committees that receive contributions 
of $2,000 or more per year for 
political purposes. This includes 
candidate controlled committees; 
committees primarily formed to 
support or oppose candidates or 
ballot measures; political party 
committees; and other general 
purpose committees (generallyformed to support or oppose more 
than one candidate or ballot measure). 
The lack of information regarding 
their contributions makes 
them dark. 

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es its officers and source of all con-on HR’s relationship with the Pas-QUESTION: WHO ARE YOU? 
IS DARK POLITICAL MONEY HELPING 
YES ON MEASURE HR? 

In the politics of the United States,
dark money refers to spendingto influence elections where the 
source of the money is not disclosed 
to voters. 

On October 31, 2022, an unknown 
group called CITIZENS 
FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT,
ID No. 1315443, filed a required 
campaign finance report with the 
City of Sierra Madre. The groupdistributed campaign literature in 
October, advocating a Yes on HR 
vote and is believed to be responsible 
for circulating a video advocating 
YES on HR on social media. 

Filed in in late October, and the 
disclosures or lack therof were 
troubling. Initially, there was only 
a filing of the organizations’ Independent 
Expenditures Report, 
and it contained normal campaign 
expenses such as video and media 
design and mailer and postage expense. 
There was only one donor,
Sierra Madre Resident Gary Hood 
who on the first report donated 
$8,000, not as an individual, but 
as an ‘other’. (The contributor code 
choices are: Individual, Committee, 
Other, Political Party or Small 
Campaign Committee.). No other 
contributors were on the report. 

The second report contributors included 
Hood who donated $7,600 
additional dollars again as an 
‘other’ and two puzzling contributions 
from PAC+ with a San Francisco 
address. Their donations 
were $5,000 and .01. (That is not a 
typo, the second contribution was 
a penny). 

EDITORIAL: 

Deceit. 

By Former Mayor Glenn Lambdin 

I keep hearing, “Let the people 
decide.” It is often the go-to battle 
cry of those that believe their own 
selfish desires will best serve others, 
regardless of who is harmed. 
It is also what our Founding Fathers 
referred to as “Tyranny of 
the Masses.” 

Tyranny of the masses is an inherent 
weakness to majority rule in 
which the majority of an electorate 
pursues exclusively its own, often 
selfish, objectives at the expense of 
those of the minority factions, or 
in this case, a single property owner, 
the Monastery. In other words,
it’s two wolves and a sheep voting 
on what’s for dinner. 

First off, let’s make one thing perfectly 
clear, HR WILL NOT STOP 
HOMES FROM BEING BUILT 
ON THE MONASTERY PROPERTY. 
For those of who were told 
that it will, you were mislead and 
lied to. 

For residents to make informed 
decisions, it is critical that they are 
first given accurate and truthful 
information. From my perspective, 
the level of false information 
being spread by the Yes on HR 
crowd has been rather disgusting. 
For example, in the televised 
debate between former Mayor 
Capoccia, (NO on HR supporter) 
and Susan Newhausen, (Yes Supporter) 
Ms. Newhausen claimed 
that if HR passes, the Passionists 
can still “do everything they 
want.” (2:01:55 into the debate)
She also claimed that they can do 
it via a “Conditional Use Permit.” 
She is grossly mistaken on both 
accounts. First, nobody in anyland use zone can do “everything 
they want.” The claim is absurd 
and certainly false and misleading. 
And as far as a “Conditional 
Use Permit” (CUP) is concerned, aCUP in no way allows an applicant 
the ability to do whatever they 
want. On the contrary, a CUP is a 
“discretionary permit” as apposed 
to a “ministerial permit” which in 

Several residents recently became 
aware of this filing and brought 
it to the attention of the Mountain 
Views News. Upon further 
research, it was noted that CITIZENS 
FOR A BETTER GOVERNMENT 
has an ID No. which points 
to an address in Norwalk. 

The PAC+ ID No. has addresses in 
Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. 
The groups are both listed 
as recipient committees with no 
clear ties to Sierra Madre. 

Mr. Hood spoke with the Mountain 
Views News and indicated 
that the $15,600 was donated from 
his personal funds. He was not 
clear as to why the report listed 
him as ‘Other’ rather than ‘Individual’, 
nor was there a clear explanation 
of what the PAC+ connection 
was to Sierra Madre. 

The local YES on HR PAC is registered 
with the city and is officially 
known as PROTECT SIERRA 
MADRE – STOP THE HOUSING 
PROJECT. It is organized by local 
residents and the contributors 
listed are all local. 

The same amount of disclosure 
is true for the group opposing 
the measure, “NO ON HR, SIERRA 
MADRE NEIGHBORS 
FOR FAIRNESS, A COALITION 
OF LOCAL RESIDENTS, TAXPAYERS, 
AND MATER DOLOROSA 
PASSIONIST RETREAT 
CENTER; COMMITTEE MAJOR 
FUNDING FROM NEW URBAN 
WEST”. That group fully disclos-

Measure HR: Selfishness and a Vile Campaign 
of Insults, False Information, and 

layman’s terms means that it can 
be flat-out denied, have unfavorable 
and restrictive conditions 
placed on its approval, and it must 
also be approved by the PlanningCommission, subject to an appeal 
to the City Council. A deceitful 
claim and a far cry from, “whatever 
they want.” In their written 
“One-Two Punch” misinformation 
paper, they claim that HR “Allows 
Mater Dolorosa to continue 
their mission and expand under 
a ‘NON-CONDITIONAL USE 
PERMIT’ which the city will undoubtedly 
grant.” In the first place, 
there is no such thing as a “nonconditional 
use permit!” They do 
not exist and never have. And to 
claim the City will, “undoubtedly 
grant” a non existent permit process 
is either intentional deceit or 
absolute ignorance. It does speak 
to the lack of integrity the Yes 
crowd has displayed. One 86 year 
old woman who has lived in Sierra 
Madre since she was 12 informed 
me she was harassed and shouted 
at by some cowardly man in Kersting 
Ct. because she wouldn’t sign 
his petition. 

The truth is, if HR passes, the Passionists 
will lose many necessaryland use rights that they have been 
guaranteed for decades. HR forces 
the re-zoning of one of Sierra 
Madre’s oldest and most honored 
historical institutions and religious 
properties to be placed into a 
residential zone designation without 
the owner’s consent. With that 
change will come a substantial loss 
of property rights and several religious 
freedoms guaranteed under 
the First Amendment of the 
Constitution. 

If HR passes, Sierra Madre residents 
and taxpayers can expect to 
spend hundreds of thousands of 
dollars, possibly millions, on litigation; 
money that could be better 
used to repair our outdated water 
system and much needed street 
and sidewalk repairs. If HR wins,
Sierra Madre will be sued and will 
be required by law to defend the 
suit. HR, (continued on page4) 

sionists and New Urban West,
however their positions opposingHR are obvious. The contributors 
are transparent and leaves no 
unanswered questions. The same 
can be said for the YES on HR Pac, 
whose contributors are entirely local 
residents. 

What is the history, identity and 
purpose of Citizens For Better 
Government, who formed it and 
why is Yes on Measure HR important 
to them? Without any information 
on where the money comes 
from, the contributions are dark 
and of concern to many residents 
of Sierra Madre. 

You can confirm this information 
by going to the following links on 
the Secretary of State’s website: 

CITIZENS FOR BETTER 
GOVERNMENT 

https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/
Committees/Detail.aspx?id=
1315443&view=expenditures

NO CONTRIBUTIONS 

PAC+ $5,000 DONATION NO 
CURRENT REPORT 

ht tps://cal-acce ss . sos .ca .gov/
Campaign/Committees/Detail.
aspx?id=1353459 

POWERPAC.ORG VOTER 
FUND, A SPONSORED COMMITTEE 
OF POWERPAC.ORG 
1353459 

ht tps://cal-acce ss . sos .ca .gov/
Campaign/Committees/Detail.
aspx?id=1285796 


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