Gaines "Out Of Touch", Vote For Haswell!

From a Haswell for Assembly press release:

Democratic State Assembly Candidate Rob Haswell assailed Republican opponent Ted Gaines as "out of touch" with Fourth Assembly District voters, specifically pointing to Gaines' support of Proposition 90 and his close relationship with Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos.

"When voters overwhelmingly rejected Jerry Simmons in his bid for Supervisor earlier this year, they sent a clear message. They are tired of big developers like Angelo Tsakopoulos meddling in local elections," said Haswell, noting that not only has Tsakopoulos poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Simmons's failed Supervisor bid, but he and his associates also have backed Gaines with tens of thousands of dollars. "Other than Jerry Simmons, no Placer County politician has received as much money from Tsakopoulos. I think that's telling."

Despite the record amount of money spent by Tsakopoulos, Supervisor Robert Weygandt defeated Simmons for the District 2 supervisorial seat in June, gathering more than seventy percent of the vote.

Haswell noted that Gaines's long-standing relationship with the Tsakopoulos family should give Placer and El Dorado county voters pause. Last week, Gaines received more than $5,000 in contributions from Angelo Tsakopoulos and longtime Tsakopoulos associate, James A. Regas, an Illinois attorney. The recent contributions bring Gaines' total from the Tsakopoulos family, AKT Development and associates to an amount in excess of $50,000.

"Gaines has been raising money from big developers since 2004 and Angelo Tsakopoulos was one of his first patrons," Haswell said, noting that Gaines has said he's been too busy to attend any of the 10 public forums that have been held in the district since the primary. "It's a matter of priorities. Apparently, Gaines has decided that reaching out to big developers and promoting Proposition 90 are more important than talking and listening to voters."

Gaines recently joined fellow Placer County Supervisor Bruce Kranz in a failed bid to get the Board of Supervisors to support Proposition 90. Supervisors Weygandt, Jim Holmes and Bill Santucci defeated the resolution.

"Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger joined the long list of individuals and organizations opposing this dangerous proposition, which would make the notion of 'smart growth' meaningless and could cost taxpayers billions of dollars in potential lawsuits. Inconceivably, Gaines has made support of this scheme a centerpiece of his election campaign. It boggles the mind," Haswell said.

In a statement Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said, in part: "The proponents of Prop 90 added provisions that I believe will undermine basic government laws that protect our home values, safeguard our environment and allow for the building of safe roads, schools and other essential infrastructure."

Haswell said he believes residents of the Fourth Assembly District are tired of partisan extremism and the intrusive influence of mega developers in local politics.

"On November 7th, I'm confident that voters will continue to send a message rejecting politicians with extreme partisan agendas and the continued meddling in local elections by mega-developers," Haswell said.