A Development Dirty Money Trick That Failed In Arcadia

I think it is fairly safe to say that the effort backfired. Rather than turning the voters against the intended target of all that money, April Verlato, the injection of so much outside secretive developer cash into that campaign shocked the residents of Arcadia and in the end could have been what drove so many of them to the polls. The result being the election of Verlato and the defeat of Bob Harbicht. 

Funny how things work out sometimes, right? As another untended consequence, the presence of all of that funny finance created the kinds of press that money just can't buy, and in the end it could have also helped push April Verlato over the finish line. 

You can read the rest here.

Money can in itself become an issue, and in the end could have the opposite effect of what those giving it originally intended. As Tattler readers will certainly recall, in Sierra Madre a similar situation developed during the Measure V imbroglio a few years back. 

Nearly $180,000 was pumped into that election by the BIA, CAR and, of all things, the Arcadia Realtors group. Approximately $18 for every person living in town, including little infants, and all from the usual big development interests. But rather than fueling voter opposition to Measure V, that money became an issue in itself. One that likely won the election for those hoping to preserve Sierra Madre's downtown from the wrecking ball.

Some people just never learn. 

Here is an example of what the so-called "California Homeowner Association" and its suspect money bought for the Harbicht campaign.

Sometimes a candidate just deserves to lose. Obviously Bob Harbicht was one of those candidates. And no matter how much money outside developers spent to prop this undeserving fellow up, the right man lost.

Money can't buy you love. Or brains.