Assembly candidate given $2,900 after Wal-Mart OK

Published online on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009

A development company seeking to build a controversial Wal-Mart Supercenter in Clovis donated $2,900 to Bob Whalen's state Assembly campaign the day after he cast a key City Council vote on the project.

Whalen was the only Clovis City Council member to receive a donation immediately after the vote from Paynter Realty & Investment, the Orange County-based firm developing the project. Paynter has made campaign donations in the past to other members of the council, including opponents of the project.

Political scientists and campaign finance experts were stunned at the timing.

"The appearance of it is just striking," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles and former general counsel for the state Fair Political Practices Commission. "It looks like: 'You voted our way and here's our money.' "

Jeffrey Cummins, a political science professor at California State University, Fresno, agreed.

"The appearance is pretty bad and they should have done something more to disguise it," he said, "but this goes on all the time."

Even Whalen acknowledged "the timing of this one is not particularly good."

But he said the donation had nothing to do with his vote. Whalen said he has consistently supported Paynter's project and was a solid "yes" vote on June 29.

Whalen said David Paynter, president and chief executive officer of Paynter Realty & Investment, had "wanted to make a contribution to the campaign for quite a while." He added that it is "not uncommon in politics that we get contributions from folks who are in front of the council."

Whalen said he could have asked Paynter to wait and make the donation after June 30, which would have put it into the next reporting period. But that would have been dishonest, he said.

Paynter said he knows Whalen personally and has backed his campaigns for years.

"I'm supportive of good people in government and I think Bob's a quality guy," Paynter said.

Paynter Realty & Investment has projects throughout the central San Joaquin Valley, and has given campaign donations to many local office seekers. They include the campaigns of Fresno County supervisors, Fresno City Council members and all five members of the Clovis City Council.

Clovis Council Member Nathan Magsig has received the most from Paynter Realty, around $23,000 since 2004, much of it for his unsuccessful run for county supervisor. In that same period, Whalen has received a little less than $7,000.

The Clovis project has been controversial since plans were announced in early 2003. Even before Wal-Mart was named as a tenant, a lawsuit was filed that alleged Clovis violated state environmental law by approving the shopping center.

On June 29, Whalen joined a 3-2 Clovis City Council majority to approve certification of an environmental document for the 490,000-square-foot project, which has been delayed for years by court battles.

The following day, Paynter Realty & Investment donated to Whalen's Assembly campaign, according to his most recent campaign finance statement.

First elected to the council in 2003, Whalen is in the midst of his second term. Next year, he will seek the 29th Assembly seat being vacated by termed-out Republican Mike Villines.

Whalen said he was on a fundraising drive so his campaign finance report would show solid numbers on June 30 -- the end of the reporting period. Whalen's report showed $31,800 raised in the first six months of 2009, with $33,435 in the bank and more than $13,600 in unpaid bills, mostly owed to Republican fundraiser Wendy Warfield.

Madera resident Don McKinney, who is Whalen's main opponent so far for the Republican nomination, has more than $137,000 in his campaign war chest, though $99,000 is a loan McKinney made to himself.