Sacramento Bee: Simmons campaign gets major "Donations" from Power Player Democrat Developer

Power Developer Tsakopoulos family jumps into Placer Supervisor contest
By Mary Lynne Vellinga and Niesha Lofing -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, May 28, 2006

The family of developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos is well known nationwide as a power player in the Democratic Party.

But now his son Kyriakos, a registered Democrat who in 2004 cast one of California's electoral votes for John Kerry for president, is appearing in television ads and mail pieces in an effort to unseat Republican Placer County Supervisor Robert Weygandt, who is being challenged by a man who asserts Weygandt isn't Republican enough.

GOP candidate Jerry Simmons, 32, president of the Sierra Joint Community College District board, has attracted financial support from a list of contributors -- as far as away as New York City and Chicago -- who are connected to Angelo Tsakopoulos and his AKT Development Corp.
Kyriakos Tsakopoulos manages his father's land holdings in Placer County through his KT Development Corp.

Angelo Tsakopoulos hasn't made any direct contributions to Simmons. But major financial backers include the developer's longtime business partners, his real estate broker, a Chicago-area lawyer who once chaired a think tank Tsakopoulos founded, homebuilders who buy land from him, and a top executive of AKT Development Corp.

"Anybody who is paying attention to the race knows that Angelo Tsakopoulos is supporting Jerry Simmons," said Lincoln Councilman Primo Santini, a longtime friend of Weygandt's who is helping run his campaign.

"I had a meeting with Kyriakos Tsakopoulos. It was a conversation in which no room was left for doubt. He said new leadership was needed in the county, and Jerry was the man for the job."
Simmons said Friday he has not received direct financial support from Angelo or Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, and said he wasn't aware that significant funds to his campaign were from Angelo Tsakopoulos' professional and personal contacts.

Nonetheless, he said he is aware that the Tsakopoulos family "has had positive things to say about my campaign to others in the community."

According to campaign finance statements, Weygandt has raised $326,480 to seek his fourth term on the board, one of the highest amounts ever raised for a supervisorial seat in Placer County.

His fundraising began last year, however. This year, Simmons was outpacing Weygandt -- having raised a total of $215,990 -- until Friday, when Weygandt's campaign reported a $50,000 late contribution from the United Auburn Indian Community, operators of Thunder Valley Casino.

Last week, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos jumped into the fray by appearing in a series of cable TV ads and sending out signed letters to voters criticizing Weygandt.

Kyriakos Tsakopoulos reported spending $24,422 on his ads as of Tuesday. His spending is classified as an independent expenditure to oppose Weygandt and is thus not included in Simmons' campaign total. He lives in Granite Bay and is a registered Democrat, voter records show.

Neither Angelo nor Kyriakos Tsakopoulos would make themselves available for comment last week on the supervisor race. But local GOP politicians have taken note, including those who support Weygandt, despite Simmons' claim that he "is the only Republican in the race."
Simmons is secretary of the Placer County Republican Central Committee. In March, he received the party's endorsement -- highly unusual in a race involving a party incumbent.
"It is ironic that a member of the Republican Central Committee is being supported by one of the strongest Democrats in the land," Santini said.

Angelo Tsakopoulos and his immediate family generally support the same candidates, often giving multiple donations at the same time. Kyriakos Tsakopoulos has been a less substantial campaign contributor than Angelo and daughter Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, but like them he has backed state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a Democrat, for governor.

The family made nearly $9 million in campaign contributions between 1995 and 2005, the vast majority going to Democrats on the local, state and national level. Angelo Tsakopoulos and his daughter have hosted fundraisers for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and he was among the contributors invited to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom when Bill Clinton was president.
This year, Angelo Tsakopoulos and Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis have spent $8.7 million on an independent expenditure campaign to boost the gubernatorial fortunes of former AKT employee Angelides.

The Simmons race isn't the first time the Tsakopoulos family has backed a Republican. The family often gives money to Republican candidates for local offices in districts where Democrats can't hope to win.

What's unusual is the scale of the involvement and the fact that Kyriakos Tsakopoulos is targeting an incumbent perceived as relatively moderate who is facing a challenger who describes himself as more conservative.

Citing their "strong family values," Simmons says the current politicians he most admires are U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, and Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City.
Weygandt, Santini and other local officials say the Tsakopoulos family's opposition to Weygandt stems from the belief that he was to blame for their failure to secure quick county approval of their plans to donate about 1,100 acres in western Placer County for a private university and adjacent development that would pay for the university's construction.

In 2003, the Christian Brothers order announced that it would build a four-year university but pulled out last year, saying the building approval process was taking too long.

Tsakopoulos' "beef with Robert is simply that they do not feel he has supported their university project," Santini said. "He has supported it. I honestly don't know how the differences they have had about the ultimate shape of the project could have escalated to this point."

The university site west of Roseville is amid thousands of acres of farmland, much of it owned by Angelo Tsakopoulos and his partners. Environmentalists criticize the proposal to donate land there as a ploy to eventually open the area for growth.

Kyriakos Tsakopoulos' ads don't directly urge people to vote for Simmons. Rather, they target Weygandt, 54, for not supporting a 2005 advisory ballot measure that asked voters to endorse the university proposal.

His mailer points out that Simmons was chairman of the campaign for the ballot measure, which Weygandt opposed. Measure H passed with 61 percent of the vote.

In the ads, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos identifies himself as a trustee for the California State University system, not as a developer.

"Sixty percent of you voted yes. Supervisor Weygandt, who opposed the measure, called your vote irrelevant," Tsakopoulos said in his TV ad. "College opportunity is not irrelevant."
Simmons said the TV ad is not affiliated with his campaign and came "as a total surprise."
He said he understands why "they would want to remind voters of (Weygandt's) opposition to an educational institution being built in our county."

While he opposed the ballot measure, Weygandt said the Tsakopoulos family has wrongly blamed him for trying to block the university altogether. Complex land use issues are more appropriately decided by the Board of Supervisors, not at the ballot box, he said.
Weygandt said he supports the idea of a private university in western Placer County, though he thinks the Tsakopoulos property is an "imperfect site." He said he met with Kyriakos Tsakopoulos and his consultants "40 times" to try to resolve development application issues.
A longtime champion of preserving open space in Placer County, Weygandt maintains Tsakopoulos is seeking "preferential treatment" by pressing for quick approval of a university development that runs afoul of the county's general plan.

"The university's flaws continue to be that it requires groundwater, even though we found a source of surface water for it, and that they're refusing to study the idea of a buffer with the agricultural land, " Weygandt said.

Simmons said his relationship with the Tsakopoulos family began about two years ago because of the family's donations to Sierra College's scholarship program. After learning about the university proposal, Simmons offered to volunteer to work on the effort, eventually becoming chairman of the Measure H campaign.

He said he took up Measure H "because I think a new university is essential for educational opportunities and expanding economic development in our region."

Simmons has been controversial since his election to the Sierra College board, with his leadership being questioned by faculty and staff. His tenure has been marked by the stormy departure of former college President Kevin Ramirez, a subsequent grand jury request that the board apologize to Ramirez, and the board's tepid response to the grand jury. The board will vote next month whether Simmons continues as board president.

Republican Simmons said he has no problem taking donations connected to such a prominent Democratic fundraising family.

"The Tsakopoulos family has given significant amounts to both Democratic and Republican officeholders because they believe in creating a better business climate, " he said.
"My campaign is willing to accept support from anyone who shares my vision for the future of Placer County, regardless of whether they be Republican, Democrat or independent."
But other local elected officials see it differently.

"Any one of us could come up for re-election, and (a) Tsakopoulos could decide to spend a million dollars against us, and it would be pretty unsettling," said Republican Lincoln City Councilman Tom Cosgrove.

About the writer:
The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga can be reached at (916) 321-1094 or mlvellinga@sacbee.com. Niesha Lofing can be reached at (916) 773-6846 or nlofing@sacbee.com.

Following the money
A sampling of contributions to Jerry Simmons from people with ties to Sacramento developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos:

Cambridge Communities• Sacramento
• $25,000
• Home builder
• Recently signed agreement to buy 48-acre Centrage property in east Sacramento from Angelo K. Tsakopoulos.

Crystal Ice Delivery• Fair Oaks
• $20,000
• Former ice delivery company owned by Fair Oaks resident Tim Fitzer.
• Angelo Tsakopoulos and Bill Cummings owned the Crystal Ice complex for many years and leased space to Crystal Ice Delivery. Tsakopoulos eventually transferred his interest to nonprofit entities dedicated to study of Greece. Crystal Ice Delivery is now closed, and the complex has been sold to developer Mark Friedman. Fitzer declined to say why he gave money to Simmons.

Mark Enes• Sacramento
• $11,000
• Executive vice president of AKT Development

Kristin Enes• Sacramento
• $11,000
• Homemaker

Somers Building Maintenance• Sacramento
• $10,000
• Owner Charles Somers has been a partner with Angelo Tsakopoulos in land in eastern Sacramento County.

James Regas• Oak Brook, Ill.
• $10,000
• Lawyer
• Served as chairman of the Western Policy Center, a think tank founded by Angelo Tsakopoulos and devoted to the study of issues related to Greece.

Georgia Regas• Oak Brook, Ill.
• $5,000
• Homeowner

Forecast Homes-Northern California• Sacramento
• $10,000
• Homebuilder
• Currently working with AKT Development on a project in Rancho Cordova.

135 W. 18th St. Realty Corp.• New York
• $5,000
• Company controlled by Peter J. Pappas, whose family's Sacramento and El Dorado County real estate investments are managed out of Angelo Tsakopoulos' office.