Who's Behind Them: 24-year Republican incumbent James Fang: some $63,000, including $23,000 from BART contractors, and $15,000 from the BART workers' union. Well-heeled Democratic entrepreneur Nicholas Josefowitz: upwards of $153,000 raised from family, friends, and others and at least $17,500 of his own.
At its best, riding BART is an efficient, antiseptic experience. A breakdancer may canvass the train but, hey, a dollar in the hat is a small price to pay to watch a man contort himself into a human barber pole.
Counterintuitively, the election process for the men and women governing this system is the exact opposite. It's chaotic, and seems designed to foster the very worst outcomes.
Back in the heady days of the 1990s, the FBI descended upon BART in a sting operation triggered by allegations of agency commissioners trading votes for donations from contractors. It was, amazingly, legal for individuals and businesses vying for and holding BART contracts to donate money to the commissioners voting on those contracts. The practice was abolished.
And yet, even more amazingly, in 2007 the contractor ban was simply rendered voluntary. A list is regularly circulated to BART commissioners noting who they could voluntarily avoid hitting up for funds.
In the wrong hands, this list serves the diametric opposite of its intended purpose. A 2012 analysis by
The Bay Citizen revealed that 44 percent of the money donated to BART board candidates originated from contractors or wannabe contractors.
By that measure, longtime BART commissioner James Fang is ahead of the game. Perusing his most recent campaign filings (which are housed in a basement room at the Department of Elections and not available online), 37 percent of the $63,000 he's amassed hails from sitting or aspiring contractors.
For the first time in decades, Fang — the city's only officeholding Republican — has a well-funded opponent. Rather well-funded, in fact.
Fang's rival, Nicholas Josefowitz, has renounced donations from contractors. The well-off and ambitious entrepreneur has, instead, hit up family, friends, and others to the tune of $153,000 (tech CEOs, Stanford instructors, and high-powered executives dot his filings). Josefowitz also pumped $17,500 of his own coin into the race.
Josefowitz is no stranger to making large donations; he's given tens of thousands of dollars on the statewide level, and contributed to more than a dozen local candidates in the last two election cycles (including $10,000 sent to a Mayor Ed Lee independent expenditure committee).
The contender has spoken out against BART contractors being able to donate to the commissioners doling out their contracts. That's a smart move. And one he can afford.
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