The Coalition for Competent Leadership (CCL) is a Political Action Committee (PAC).
Other PACs with similar goals, methods and membership are the Calabasas Taxpayers Alliance, and the Ventura Taxpayers For Responsible Government.

The main claim by these PACs is that only they, those who appear to have Developer interests, are qualified to determine who is competent to run for local offices. 

*Information from the Fair Political Practices Commission Form 497.

PARKS: Soft money helps developers

The ongoing battle over development in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills might have found a new front.

Slow-growth proponents say they have been targeted by development interests through a series of independent expenditure committees -- political action committees that can legally spend money in local races on the behalf of candidates but without contributing directly to a candidate's campaign fund.

"They are more active in areas where there are campaign expenditure limits," said Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, known for her opposition to the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch project. "Essentially it is soft money at the local level that allows pro-development candidates to benefit from developer money but look like they are keeping their hands clean."

This Tuesday, anti-Ahmanson candidates for the Calabasas City Council face re-election. The city has spent more than $2 million on litigation over the project, and Ahmanson opponents say they have been targeted.

"I think clearly there is a move on to unseat any council members who have been effective in fighting Ahmanson and to put the city in a position where they cannot continue to successfully wage that battle," said Janice Lee, a Calabasas councilwoman and outspoken Ahmanson opponent.

Officials with Ahmanson's parent company, Seattle-based Washington Mutual, said the company is not involved in the local election.

"I'm not aware that the company, Washington Mutual or Ahmanson Land Co. or any of its PACs have made any contributions to any candidates in the Calabasas race," spokesman Tim McGarry said. "I've not heard any discussions about the race in Calabasas. It's not a matter of interest to the corporation."

Parks and Lee point to those behind two of the PACs, the "Coalition for Competent Leadership" and "Ventura Taxpayers for Responsible Government." The first, which has used post office boxes in Agoura and Westlake Village, has listed numbers in the 626 and 909 area codes as contact points. Efforts to contact the organization's officers were unsuccessful.

It is unclear if the Coalition for Competent Leadership is spending money in the Calabasas elections. The organization did spend money in last year's Thousand Oaks City Council and Las Virgenes Municipal Water District races and the 2001 Agoura Hills City Council race.

In Thousand Oaks, the money was used to campaign against two of the winning candidates, Claudia Bill-de la Pena and Bob Wilson. In Las Virgenes, the PAC donated to the campaign of Marcus Frishman, a losing candidate, and in Agoura Hills, it campaigned against the council majority.

"They didn't reveal who they were. There were no names attached to it. They just decided to make slurs and accusations without any basis," Agoura Hills Councilman Dan Kuperberg said. "It was all designed to mislead voters, (but) it appeared to be development interests."

Ventura Taxpayers for Responsible Government, which lists an Oxnard address, spent more than $31,000 to support Thousand Oaks businessman Randy Hoffman against Parks in the county supervisor race. Efforts to reach that PAC also were unsuccessful.

According to public records, however, the two groups share some of the same donors.

Attorney Charles Cohen, who works for the Ahmanson project's Los Angeles law firm of Weston Benshoof, donated $1,000 to Ventura Taxpayers for Responsible Government and $1,000 to the Coalition for Competent Leadership in 2002, according to campaign finance reports. Also giving money to both groups was Haaland Group Inc. of Thousand Oaks.

Cohen said he has no involvement in the current Calabasas campaign.

"I made a donation last year when they were putting some money into the Thousand Oaks race," Cohen said. "And they were supporting Randy Hoffman, (but) I have no communication with the group that relates to the Ahmanson Ranch project or to any of the council races in the western Los Angeles County area."

For her part, Lee has her own big guns. Producer/director Rob Reiner, a Los Angeles resident and Ahmanson opponent, has donated $500 to her campaign, as has Chris Albrecht, an HBO executive involved in the fight.

"She has been an incredibly tireless champion and very articulate. We have to make sure people like Janice stay on the Calabasas City Council," Reiner said. "It's people like Janice Lee who are really keeping this thing alive ... I'm just the guy who comes along and puts some light on this thing."