1. Campaign contributions cause spat in Fremont
Fremont Argus, March 2, 2008
Matthew Artz
FREMONT — When Trisha Tahmasbi ran for a City Council seat last year, she promised not to
accept money from developers — and, technically, she did not.
In a campaign video still on YouTube, Tahmasbi said she had heard concerns about
development in Fremont.
"I would like you to know that I made a campaign pledge not to accept developer contributions,"
she said. "I have done so in order to preserve the integrity of the planning process and to
remove even the slightest appearance of undue influence of developers who have business
before the city."
So it came as a surprise to some of Tahmasbi's former opponents that on Oct. 31 — two days
after the deadline to disclose campaign contributions for the Nov. 4 election — she received at
least $9,500 from members of the Patterson family, who have proposed the largest
development currently before the city.
Tahmasbi also accepted $500 from Richard Frisbie, who is shepherding the Patterson project
through the Planning Commission and City Council.
In a text message Monday, Tahmasbi said the contributions didn't violate her pledge. "Frisbie is
a planner and the Pattersons are landowners," she wrote. "Neither are developers. My pledge
was no money from developers."
Vinnie Bacon, one of her campaign opponents, was shocked.
"Oh you're kidding. Oh my God," he said of the contribution. Bacon, who had the backing of
several residents who led the 2006 campaign to block the Patterson Ranch development, also
had pledged not to take developer money.
"The issue of developers financing candidates in Fremont's elections is very important," Bacon
later added in an e-mail. "To think that someone exploited this issue just for political gain is very
discouraging."
Tahmasbi, a 28-year-old deputy chief of staff to Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-
Newark, would have been the youngest City Council member in Fremont history.
Just a few years out of college, she had been appointed to the Ohlone College Board of
Trustees and had won the endorsements of three City Council members, most major unions
and the Fremont Chamber of Commerce in her failed council bid.
Councilmember Bill Harrison, who endorsed Tahmasbi, also said she did not break her pledge.
"The Pattersons are the owners of the land. I wouldn't call them developers," he said. "They
have an interest in development, I'm sure. They have business in front of the city."

2. Anu Natarajan, another supporter, saw no problem with the Frisbie donation but would not
comment on the Pattersons. "It depends how (Tahmasbi) defined developers," she said. "You
could look at the Pattersons and say they are property owners."
The Pattersons, one of Fremont's oldest families, have sold land in the Ardenwood district that
is now home to about 5,000 homes. Later this year, the City Council is expected to vote on their
plan to build 839 homes, two churches, a 30-acre park and a school on 520 acres owned by the
family and Cargill Salt near Coyote Hills Regional Park.
After the family gets city approval and the housing market rebounds, they will sell the land to
development firms, Frisbie said.
In 2006, opponents of the Patterson Ranch development tried to stop it with a ballot initiative.
Fremont voters rejected Measure K, which opponents, including the Pattersons, contributed
more than $600,000 to defeat.
Sometimes money is accepted from more controversial donors at the very end of the campaign
or even after the election, when voters will not find out about the contributions until well after
they cast their ballots.
Fremont's final pre-election deadline for disclosing campaign contributions last year was Oct.
29. Tahmasbi received the maximum $500 contributions from 20 confirmed members of the
Patterson family Oct. 31 and Nov. 3, according to her most recent contribution report, filed
earlier this year. The donors' names were confirmed as family members by former Mayor Gus
Morrison, who worked with the family in 2006 to defeat Measure K.
Morrison donated $100 to Tahmasbi's campaign.
Tahmasbi raised $52,166 for her campaign and loaned herself another $3,550. She finished
fourth in the council race behind Bob Wiekowski and Suzanne Chan, who both won council
seats. Bacon finished third.
Matthew Artz covers Fremont. Reach him at 510-353-7002 or martz@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Read his blog posts at www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat.