May 10th Media Release:
Deputy Mayor Papan has long led on issues of wildfire protection, drought, and sea level rise through her work with County Board of Supervisors President Don Horsley and others through our County’s One Shoreline — a Special District she helped create to address these urgent issues. The Deputy Mayor has led efforts to develop approaches to the use of recycled and reclaimed water to address drought, for example—and is endorsed by California Professional Firefighters for her leadership to champion year-round investment in wildfire protection. Papan will continue to focus on sharing her vision and leadership on these urgent issues with the voters in AD21.
It is a well-established fact that organizational entities completely outside the control of legislative candidates conduct their own communications with voters, which neither Papan or Hale has control over. Hence, the Papan campaign cannot return donations it has never received.
The truth is, Papan for Assembly has not taken any direct contributions from the oil and gas industry donors cited in the Hale press release. This appears to be nothing more than a desperate smear tactic on Hale’s part to hide the fact that Hale herself is beholden to wealthy executives and corporate special interests—by her own public filings, virtually half of all direct contributors to Hale’s campaign.