How Sacramento mayors Darrell Steinberg and Kevin Johnson raised money for their pet projects
Sacramento’s last two mayors solicited more than $10 million for area nonprofits and foundations they championed between 2015 and 2020, a new report from the state’s political finance watch dog finds.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission requires elected officials to report any contribution they solicit that goes to an organization. These “behested payments” differ from other types of political contributions, because the elected official asks for them, but it isn’t classified as a gift or a campaign contribution.
Behested payments are legal in California, but the FPPC requires officials report them to provide “transparency to the public about the movement of this money between parties.”
City of Sacramento Officials solicited the fourth-highest amount of behested payments in a five year period, trailing Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg and his predecessor Kevin Johnson, who was mayor from 2008 to 2016, reported asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals and corporations to fund Sacramento-area organizations.
Johnson in 2015 solicited nearly $3.3 million dollars from groups like the Walton Family Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and more. The funds went mostly to non-profit groups Johnson helped found, including STAND UP, an education initiative and St. Hope Academy, a family of nonprofits committed to revitalizing the Oak Park neighborhood.
Funds solicited in 2015 also went to the Sacramento Public Policy Foundation and the African American Mayor’s Association.
Johnson was fined $37,500 by the FPPC in 2012 for failing to report more than $3.5 million in behests in a timely matter.
In 2016, during his first year in office, Steinberg solicited $1.5 million from Sutter Health to the Steinberg Institute, a mental health nonprofit he founded the year before. Molina Healthcare of California kicked in another $50,000 to the institute at Steinberg’s behest.
Sacramento, in 2017, saw a comparably low amount of behested payments compared to previous years, clocking in at $395,400.
In 2018, Dignity Health donated $1.6 million to Sacramento Covered, a nonprofit geared toward healthcare access.
Amounts were also low in 2019 and 2020, showing only $386,610 and $141,000 in behested payments, respectively.
Sacramento was outstripped by leaders in some other large cities. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, San Francisco Mayors London Breed and Edwin Lee, and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf frequently solicited donations in the millions.
Over five years, Los Angeles officials solicited more than $77.9 million and City and County of San Francisco leaders sought $51.2 million. Oakland officials requested $45.7 million.
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 9:00 AM.