Union funding ‘smear campaign’ against 1st openly-gay Councilman in Sacramento, mayor says
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other local leaders are defending City Councilman Steve Hansen against what they called a “smear campaign” against the council’s first openly-gay member.
Over the weekend, volunteers placed door hangers on Sacramento homes that read, “We Must Stand Up For Our Values,” above a darkened photo of Hansen’s face and a brightly colored photo of Katie Valenzuela, his opponent for the District 4 City Council seat. The hanger also reads: “Steve Hansen Supports Republicans.” On the other side is a photo of Donald Trump with “RESIST LOCALLY” in big red letters.
Valenzuela said her campaign did not fund and she does not support the door hangers.
“When a Democratic organization, a Democratic union and their supporters compare my colleague Steve Hansen, a strong Democrat, to Donald Trump, these are fighting words,” Steinberg said during a press conference at the Warehouse Artist Lofts Monday. “And it merits the strongest of strong response. How desperate must you be to take this tactic?”
Sacramento Working Families, the political committee behind the door hanger, was formed in January to support the City Council campaigns of Ramona Landeros in north Sacramento, Valenzuela in District 4 and Mai Vang in the seat representing Meadowview.
The principal officer for the committee was listed on campaign finance documents as Jovana Fajardo, a local director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). Fajardo also helped organize a rally outside a Hansen campaign event last month calling for a rent control ordinance that would be more strict against landlords than the one Hansen proposed and the council adopted.
Fajardo could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sacramento Working Families has raised $30,000 this campaign cycle, all of it from a donation by the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 on Jan. 13. It has spent most of its money on mailers and text messages going after Hansen, campaign finance records show.
Valenzuela said she is not affiliated with the work that Sacramento Working Families is doing. She said she strongly disagrees with the content of the door hangers and posted a statement to her campaign social media Saturday.
“I found it to be really inflammatory and I completely disagree with it,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela did receive four weeks of phone banking services from SEIU 1021, she said.
“The people I work with are not at all connected to the independent expenditure committee,” Valenzuela said, referring to Sacramento Working Families. “They’re a separate entity than the entity sending out these pieces.”
However, in the interest of public perception, Valenzuela said she will not accept any more phone banking from SEIU 1021.
Hansen said he believes the group targeted him because of his sexual orientation.
“They’re bullying the only openly LGBT person on the City Council,” Hansen said. “They’re not doing that to anybody else. So it leads you to wonder. What are they trying to take advantage of? A hidden prejudice? Some implicit campaign to tear me down so others can win?”
Rosanna Herber, the first openly-gay member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board of Directors, agreed the mailer contained anti-gay undertones. She compared the language to the language often used in campaigns in Southern states.
“Does he represent your values? My friends, that’s a code word,” Herber said. “That’s a code word for, ‘We don’t like this LGBTQ candidate.’ We cannot tolerate this in our community.”
Steinberg said Hansen’s accomplishments on the council prove he is a progressive politician, not one who should be compared to Trump.
Hansen led the charge to adopt a local rent control ordinance, Steinberg mentioned. He also proposed the major $100 million housing trust fund using Measure U sales tax revenue to spark the construction of new affordable housing projects.
Representatives from Equality California, SEIU Local 1000, Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, Sacramento County Young Democrats and Stonewall Democratic Club also attended the event to support Hansen.
The primary election will be held March 3. The district includes downtown, midtown and Land Park.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 1:09 PM.
