Eye on Sacramento wants the FBI's Public Integrity Section to conduct a criminal investigation into what the watchdog calls "potentially corrupt bargaining" between Mayor Darrell Steinberg and the construction trades union.
“We see a pattern of behavior involving tremendously substantial campaign contributions from the State Building and Construction Trades Council which resulted in the creation and approval by the council of what’s called a Project Labor Agreement,” said Eye On Sacramento’s Craig Powell.
He says it involves $150,000 in campaign contributions to Steinberg's "Yes on Measure U" campaign.
Speaking for Mayor Steinberg, Mary Lynne Vellinga says she'd be surprised if the F-B-I took the claim seriously, calling today's announcement nothing more than a campaign event.
“Craig Powell said he was not here as the head of the 'No on Measure U' committee, but all those signs were behind him. That’s clearly what it was about,” said Vellinga.
Powell and Eye on Sacramento issued a report critical of Measure U on Tuesday. It included almost two dozen recommendations on how the Capital City could instead reduce its general fund by more than $125 million dollars a year.