Bay Area Air District's Bill Clinton Event is Awash in Ethical Conflicts

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's plan to pay former President Bill Clinton $150,000 to speak at its invitation-only "summit" Oct. 21 is a grotesque waste of public and private money that is saturated with ethical conflicts. 

 

Besides spending its own money, the air board is counting on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to help pay for the event. Both are taxpayer-funded agencies with regional responsibilities -- the air district regulating emissions and other factors in air quality, and MTC allocating state and federal money for transportation projects. The local elected officials appointed to these boards should be embarrassed by this gaudy expenditure. The event should be canceled. 

 

This is not the first time it has happened. In 2005, the air board paid former U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown a total of $35,000. In 2006, it brought in former Vice President Al Gore and paid his foundation $30,000. In 2009, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was to be paid $75,000 until journalists questioned why one of their own should be accepting extravagant fees.

 

He ended up speaking for free. Private funding providers for these events have included Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, the Western States Petroleum Association, power companies Calpine and PG&E and national business and environmental law firm Farella Braun and Martel. They either are egulated by the air board or often have business before it or the invited local officials. For their contributions, the firms get tickets to an invitation-only event where they can rub shoulders with the people they want to influence. It doesn't pass the smell test. 

 

The transportation commission and the air board have spent $164,000 on the past three events, a horrible use of scarce public money. 

 

For the upcoming event, in addition to Clinton's fee, the air board plans to spend about $100,000 for an upscale venue on the Richmond waterfront, food and other logistics. The only contributors so far are MTC at $50,000 and Farella Braun at $15,000. If others don't chip in, the public will be on the hook for about $235,000. If others do pony up, they'll be buying access and influence. The total cash outlay works out to $500 for each of the 500 officials expected to attend. 

 

Billed as a "Blueprint for Health Communities Summit," the event is about the health considerations of development. For example, don't build schools and homes next to refineries or freeways. For local officials who still don't understand smart growth, education is a good idea. But $150,000 for Clinton? Clinton's foundation works on climate issues, but make no mistake, this is about his star power. 

 

Politicians will get to hobnob with the former president while taxpayers and companies seeking approval for projects foot the bill. Local elected officials on the air board or MTC include Santa Clara County supervisors Liz Kniss, Ken Yeager and Dave Cortese, San Jose council members Ash Kalra and Sam Liccardo and San Mateo County supervisors Carole Groom and Adrienne Tissier. It's time for a financial and ethical reality check for all the public officials on these regional boards.