Dear Readers,
This publication has recently printed material submitted by an organization called “Culver City Neighbors United” (CCNU). Who’s that? When I reviewed their campaign finance filings, which are available on the City of Culver City’s website (https://public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=CUL), I found that over half of the nearly $33,000 this organization has raised has come from an out-of-town billionaire. CCNU claims to speak for the people of Culver City, but an oligarch is paying their bills.
We are all familiar with the term “grassroots,” referring to community-based movements. If you follow politics you have probably also heard the term “astroturf” used to refer to fake grassroots movements funded by corporations and billionaires like the Koch brothers to make their agendas more palatable. CCNU’s filings show that they fall into the latter category.
The group formed in July 2021. During the remainder of that year they received $7650 from sixty-five Culver City residents, $600 from two non-Culver City residents, and $2000 which Göran Eriksson had left over from his 2020 City Council campaign.
In the 2022 election year CCNU received $1193.60 from eight Culver City residents, $342.45 from two non-residents, and $16,000 from organizations funded by non-resident Michael Hackman, the billionaire developer and landlord of the Culver Studios, Culver Steps, and other properties. This included a $4500 in-kind contribution of canvassing services and $10,000 in cash from his PAC: the Alliance for Culver City to Support Denice Renteria and Dan O’Brien for City Council, and $1500 cash from Common Sense Culver City, a PAC whose donors largely overlap with CCNU and which, like it, has become essentially a conduit for Hackman’s money.
CCNU raised $300 from two Culver City residents in 2023 and received $2500 from “HC 9300 Culver Capital.” 9300 Culver is the address of the Culver Steps, so that’s Hackman again. In 2024 CCNU raised $2225 from five Culver City residents.
I encourage you to use the City’s campaign finance portal at https://public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=CUL to see who is funding local activist groups. It can get confusing out there.
We have seen the harmful effects of unlimited campaign spending by billionaires on the national level. It seems unwise to accept it locally.
Thank you for reading,
Jeff Schwartz
