PACs raising funds for Watson, Greco, others

A political action committee supporting Mayor Kirk Watson has raised more than $238,000 but spent less than $2,900 so far, according to a report filed with Austin’s Office of the City Clerk. One of the major contributors to the Austin Leadership PAC is Brandywine Operating Partner, which donated $10,000 to the PAC.

Brandywine has been identified as the owner of a 386,000-square-foot facility in Southwest Austin near Zilker Park, which the city has been negotiating to buy for some time. On Friday, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Olivares said city staff would seek Council approval for certificates of obligation in the amount of $107.8 million for the purchase of the property, intended to house the combined headquarters of Austin’s police, fire and EMS departments.

Mayoral candidate Doug Greco has attacked Watson for his “failure to disclose this relationship.”

Campaign finance rules prohibit candidates from communicating with or coordinating with political action committees. These committees act independently of the candidates. Watson campaign manager Joe Cascino said, “It would be illegal for us to coordinate with Austin Leadership PAC. To tie policy decisions from city management to a PAC donation which the mayor had no control over is just absurd.”

Jim Marston, the longtime director of Environmental Defense Fund in Texas, is the Austin Leadership PAC’s treasurer. Marston told the Austin Monitor, “We have been extraordinarily careful to not have contact with the campaign. We don’t even tell Kirk how much” has been raised. Marston said he was not even walking precincts for Watson this year as he has done in the past.

Brandywine is nowhere near the largest contributor to the pro-Watson PAC. The largest contributor so far is Kilroy Realty Los Angeles, which contributed $100,000. HPI Real Estate Inc. donated $25,000 and Brian Sheffield of Marbella Interests put in the odd amount of $23,749.70 on two occasions, once in July and once in September, for a total of $47,499.40.

However, very little of this money has been spent, and Marston said he did not know what plans the PAC might have for it. He pointed out that Mykle Tomlinson of Y Strategy is the consultant to the PAC.

There is also a political action committee supporting Greco, who has complained forcefully about Austin’s caps on campaign contributions that come from outside the city limits. Greco filed suit against the city saying its rules about collecting donations from non-Austin residents were unconstitutional. However, a federal judge dismissed the case on Tuesday, saying it was up to the city’s ethics commission to decide.

The Austin Progress PAC supporting Greco reported raising $24,650 and spending less than $6,000 as of early October. The majority of the PAC’s contributors live outside Austin. The PAC received $10,000 from Joseph Greco in Sarasota, Florida, and an additional $10,000 from Dr. Joseph Greco at a different address in Sarasota. All the other contributions were considerably smaller, although another Sarasota resident contributed $2,500. The PAC has paid for advertising, consulting fees and wages. However, it still had more than $19,000 as of Oct. 7.

When asked whether he had had any contact with the Austin Progress PAC, Greco emailed this statement: “We can’t coordinate with independent expenditure PACs, but it’s good to know there is broad support for my candidacy to fight for working families and stand up to Greg Abbott and state leaders on attacks on our local decisions and civil rights.”

The Austin United PAC reports it has spent $32,000 in support of Marc Duchen, who is running for District 10, Monica Guzmán, who is running in District 4, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly in District 6, and Gary Bledsoe, who is running in the crowded District 7 race. They reported $43,088.58 in contributions and now have about $9,200 left in the bank.

Another PAC with perhaps less visibility is Vibrant Austin PAC, which describes itself as “pro-housing.” It has endorsed Ashika Ganguly for District 10 and Krista Laine for District 6 against incumbent Council Member Mackenzie Kelly. Treasurer Skyler Korgel said they are working to send out mailers soon. The group has reported raising more than $55,000 and spent more than $10,000 so far. It donated $5,000 to the Real Estate Council of Austin Advancing Democracy PAC. The RECA PAC reported having more than $105,000 in the bank as of early October.

The SafeTX Political Action Committee also reported donating $5,000 to the Real Estate Council of Austin Advancing Democracy PAC. The report does not indicate which candidate or candidates either group supports.

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