Campaign Noise
Last week’s Healdsburg Tribune (Feb. 22, “Campaign for Assembly Gets Down and Dirty”) reported that Ariel Kelley’s sister, Shoshana Ungerleider, and “hedge fund manager Chris Hansen” have contributed $200,000 and $60,000, respectively, to a SuperPAC supporting Kelley’s State Assembly campaign. That SuperPAC is behind hit pieces portraying Kelley’s rival Rusty Hicks—sporting an L.A. Dodgers cap—as a “carpetbagger” from Los Angeles.
It is understandable that Kelley’s sister would invest a small fortune in her candidacy, but one has to wonder about the connection between Hansen and Kelley. The answer can be found in the tax returns for a nonprofit called “Operation Reboot dba Pillar,” which are available online.
Hansen doesn’t just run a $2.8 billion hedge fund. He is also president of Operation Reboot dba Pillar, whose most recent tax return lists Kelley as its Chief Executive Officer at an annual salary and benefits totaling $276,793. Hansen is Kelley’s boss.
Hansen funded Operation Reboot dba Pillar for the purpose of making grants to assist Covid-distressed small businesses in reopening. But all of those grants have gone to businesses in Seattle, which is Hansen’s home town. Those businesses are located in neighborhoods surrounding Seattle’s “SODO” district, where Hansen has extensive property holdings across multiple acres. None of those grants have gone to businesses in California, much less in the Assembly district that Kelley seeks to represent.
It seems fair to ask Kelley why she chose to leave her position as executive director of Corazón Healdsburg, where she served Healdsburg’s Latino residents at an annual salary of $106,816, to increase that income nearly threefold running a nonprofit created to prop up businesses in Hansen’s stomping grounds 800 miles away. Perhaps she’s secretly a fan of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, which plays its home games in the SODO District.
As of last weekend, Kelley and her SuperPAC have together raised more than $1 million, with more than half that amount coming from Kelley personally, her sister and other family members, Hansen and Santa Rosa real estate mogul Bill Gallaher. Meanwhile, Hicks and his SuperPAC have together raised nearly $1.4 million. Look for a lot more ugliness from those two before Election Day.
Me? I’ve already voted for Chris Rogers.
Jon B. Eisenberg
Healdsburg
Sure miss the days when candidates were motivated to run to serve their communities and take the high road during the campaign, focusing on their backgrounds, experience and skill sets rather than trying to skewer their opponents. Those kinds of tactics do make it easier to decide who NOT to vote for …
It does make you wonder—why are they so willing to ignore ethics and morals in order to prevail? Is this Assembly seat that important to fulfill their ambitions?
Eric Ziedrich
Healdsburg
Resurrected Theater
As a resident of Healdsburg since 1985, I, like many of my friends who are also longtime residents, am both saddened and angry about the direction our community is headed.
When I heard the Raven Theater was being resurrected, I was so happy, as I was a loyal patron for the many years that it operated. Now, where is that vision headed?
There has to be some kind of balance between growth and expansion, and yet maintaining the charm of our wonderful town. We all know money talks, and a lot of what is happening is that money is coming from people and developers who do not even live here. We all need to make our voices heard!
Susan Matheny
Healdsburg
Readers are welcome to send letters to ed****@he***************.com.
