Chief Communications Officer for City of Santa Rosa Abruptly Ends Employment After Distribution of Questionable Tax Measure Mailings
Lon Peterson, Chief Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Officer, is no longer employed as of October '24 following the release of the City-sponsored 'Yes on EE & FF' tax measure campaign
The City’s ‘Yes on EE & FF’ website claims that the tax measure campaign has been paid for by a new Political Action Committee (PAC): Residents, Businesses, Mayor Rogers, and Vice Mayor Stapp United for Santa Rosa's Future, Yes on EE and FF. Oddly, the Committee’s campaign finance statements claimed that $0 has been spent on expenditures. So, who is paying for the marketing campaign, and who approved the expenditures?
From August 2022 - October 2024, Mr. Lon Peterson served as the City of Santa Rosa’s Chief Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Officer.
Per his LinkedIn profile, his job duties were as follows:
Member of the Executive Team and directed the Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Office.
Staff liaison to the Community Advisory Board and the Open Government Task Force.
Developed and implemented the legislative advocacy program in coordination with the City's lobbyists at the state and federal levels.
Directed the Citywide Grants Team to align grants and funding with City Council objectives.
EE argument in favor: A "yes" vote supports adjusting the city's general business tax to implement a tiered tax structure based on the gross receipts of businesses.
FF argument in favor: A "yes" vote supports increasing the city's hotel lodging tax, also known as a transient occupancy tax, from 9% to 11%.
My research partner, Mr. Eric Fraser, Truth in Tourism, and I submitted rebuttals and arguments against both measures.
Rebuttal against Measure EE: A "no" vote opposes adjusting the city's general business tax to implement a tiered tax structure based on the gross receipts of businesses.
The City’s counter-rebuttal to our argument against EE:
The City’s counter-rebuttal to our argument against FF:
Within the City’s counter-arguments, Vice Mayor Mark Stapp claimed that Mr. Fraser and I are ‘misguided activists’ utilizing scare tactics and spreading misinformation. As we continue to bring transparency to the community, we have encountered major concerns.
Vice Mayor Stapp is currently under investigation with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). He failed to abstain from votes that directly benefit his wife’s employer, Jackson Family Wines.
In Wake of Explosive Revelations, Santa Rosa Councilmember & Groundwater Agency Director Stapp Approved New Fees Despite Wife's Counsel Position at Jackson Family Wines
Vice Mayor Mark Stapp was elected to City Council in 2022 representing District 2, which includes neighborhoods around Montgomery Village, Bennett Valley, and Taylor Mountain. Simultaneously, he serves on the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board.
Windsor & Santa Rosa Councilman Commissioning Water Sales for Jackson Family Wines Through Local Agencies
Mr. Michael Wall was first elected to the Town of Windsor, CA Council in April 2022 with a current term of December 2022 - December 2026.
The City’s EE & FF PAC Form 460, campaign disclosure statement for January 1, 2024, to September 21, 2024, reported $0 in expenditures or contributions received.
The PAC’s Form 410, statement of organization amendment filed yesterday, October 20, 2024, outlined the Treasurer and other Principal Officers. The Santa Rosa Police Officers Association PAC was added as a sponsor within the amendment.
Ms. Stacy Owens, S.E. Owens & Company was selected as the PAC’s Treasurer by the City with Mr. Peter Sullivan, Executive Vice President, S.E. Owens & Company, as Assistant Treasurer. Mayor Rogers and Vice Mayor Stapp were the signatories confirming the verification of the statement of organization.
Ms. Owens is the President of S.E. Owens & Company, a compliance and accounting firm that focuses on political campaigns, non-profit organizations, mission-driven businesses, and animal rights organizations. Simultaneously, she has served as the Treasurer of the Board for Emerge California.
This presents a tremendous conflict of interest being that Santa Rosa Councilwoman Victoria Fleming is the Northern California Director of Programs, Training and Development for Emerge California.
This mailer was sent out to all voters on behalf of the City of Santa Rosa to tout support for EE & FF.
As of this morning, City Staff informed us that the Communications & Intergovernmental Relations Office / Finance Office has no records of these mailers being sent.
The City’s Form 410 claimed that the Santa Rosa Police Officers Association PAC (SRPOA) is sponsoring the Yes on EE & FF Pac. However, the SRPOA PAC shows zero expenditures or contributions in Cal-Access. The Cal-Access website states: this committee has not electronically filed a Form 460/461/450 for this election cycle.
The SRPOA PAC 497 Contribution Report submitted to the City of Santa Rosa showed a $10k contribution to the EE & FF PAC as of October 11, 2024. This was the only documented contribution since January 1, 2024.
The SRPOA PAC has only filed one Form 460 since August 2, 2024. The EE & FF PAC was not referenced within the Forms at all.
However, the Form 460 for the period of January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024, indicated that the SRPOA PAC made financial contributions to the campaigns of Santa Rosa Councilwoman Mayor Rogers, District 7 and Ken English, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge as expenditures.
The FPPC provided the following guidelines regarding the Form 410:
Q. When must a committee file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) with the Secretary of State’s office?
A. The Form 410 is required to be filed within 10 days of raising $2,000 or more, which is the threshold for qualifying as a committee.
Q. Is it possible for a committee to receive a committee ID number prior to meeting the $2,000 threshold?
A. Yes. The Secretary of State will issue a committee ID number upon receipt of the Form 410, even if $2,000 or more has not yet been raised. The “Not Yet Qualified” box should be marked and once the $2,000 threshold is met, an amendment must be filed within 10 days to report the date the committee qualified.
Q. Is there a fee to register as a committee?
A. Yes. Committees are required to pay a $50 fee to the Secretary of State within 15 days of filing the Form 410. In addition, a $50 fee is required to be paid to the Secretary of State by January 15 of each year until the committee terminates.
The City has no record on file of the aforementioned expenditure, the $50 fee.
The FPPC provided the following guidance regarding sponsored committees:
Sponsored committees are primarily funded or controlled by a person, or small group of persons, to pursue the person’s or group’s interests. The Political Reform Act (“the Act”) requires that the name of the sponsored committee identify the committee’s sponsor(s) to inform the public of who is responsible for the committee’s activity.
The Act defines a “sponsored committee” as a committee, other than a candidate controlled committee, that has one or more sponsors. Any company, corporation, association, or other organization, or group of persons, except a candidate or other individual, may sponsor a committee. A candidate or other individual cannot qualify as a sponsor.
A recipient committee receives contributions to use for political purposes such as making contributions or independent expenditures to support or oppose candidates and ballot measures. Major donor and independent expenditure committees do not receive “contributions” under the Act, but use funds to make contributions or independent expenditures. Any of these types of committees may qualify as a “sponsored committee.” Committees may be sponsored by one or more entities.
An entity or organization qualifies as a committee sponsor if it:
Provides 80 percent or more of the contributions received by the committee, either directly or from the entity or organization’s members, officers, employees, or shareholders;
Collects contributions for the committee through payroll deductions or dues from its members, officers or employees;
Provides all or nearly all the administrative services for the committee; or
Sets the policies for soliciting contributions or making expenditures of committee funds.
Sponsored Committees: When is the 80 Percent Threshold Met?
Anytime a committee reaches the 80 percent threshold for sponsorship qualification, it has ten days to amend its statement of organization to identify a sponsor. A committee must make this determination at the time of filing each campaign statement based on activity occurring through the end of the statement period. When calculating the 80 percent threshold, a committee must review all contributions received by a committee in the 24 months preceding the end of the statement period. If the committee is required to file a pre-election statement, the committee must also make this determination each time it receives a contribution during the period between the second pre-election campaign statement period and the election.
Being that the City of Santa Rosa has virtually no funding records available for Measure EE and Measure FF, are Mr. Fraser and I ‘misguided’, or is the City outright lying to constituents in conjunction with their propaganda arm, The Press Democrat?
The Press Democrat has published numerous articles in favor of both measures. They represented Mr. Fraser in the most recent article without reaching out to him for comment whatsoever. My name was not even mentioned within the article at all.
I recently spoke with Mayor Rogers, and she informed me that The Press Democrat has no relationship with the City. Mr. Fraser emailed her our concerns twelve days ago. She has not yet responded.
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. -Proverbs 11:3
I hate to phrase things this way. For many years, people trusted elected officials because “white = right”. Meaning we saw white elected officials and presumed these officials were following the law. But, at least, in Sonoma County, white has not translated in trustworthiness and honesty.
These clean cut, well spoken white folks, based on blogs I’ve been reading for a year, have been anything but honest.
What an epiphany! Trust nothing. Verify everything.