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Documents showing a Northern California PAC opposing Dan Slater, who is running for Mayor of Orange and Adrienne Gladson, who is running for District 6 in Orange.
By Brian Hews
October 21, 2022~An obscure political action committee that lists its address in Granite Bay, located on Folsom Lake east of Sacramento, is pumping tens of thousands of late monies into the Orange City Council Election opposing Dan Slater, who is running for Mayor, and Orange District 6 City Council candidate Adrienne Gladson.
Atlas PAC, FPPC ID#1279586, has taken in over $140,000 since July 2021 and is now aiming its resources directly at Slater and Gladson.
One of the largest donations was from auto giant the David Wilson Auto Group, owner of Toyota of Orange and Ford of Orange, who recently gave $20,000 to the PAC.
Two deceptive mailers targeting Slater and Gladson hit Orange mailboxes this week, mailed by Atlas and partially funded by the David Wilson Auto Group.
Conflicts of interest are rife with Wilson’s donation: sources are telling HMG-CN that the wife of the current Orange Mayor, Mark Murphy, runs the Wilson Group.
In addition, the same sources are telling HMG-CN that the dealership group owns multiple properties along the North Tustin Corridor, including the Village Mall at Orange. Earlier this year, the Orange City Council attempted to rezone the property to allow high-density apartments; the plan was temporarily put on hold following a public outcry.
Campaign finance documents ending June 2021 show that Atlas took in nearly $38,000, a majority of the money, $25,000, coming from F&F Capital Group, an LLC registered in Delaware with an Irvine address.
By the end of the 2021, Atlas had taken in an additional $15,000 from the Allred Trust based in Los Alamitos; the Allred family owns the Los Alamitos Race Course.
Just seven days ago, Atlas reported a $6,000 mass mailing expenditure opposing Adrienne Gladson and a nearly $13,000 expenditure opposing Dan Slater.
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Documents showing the $6,000 Atlas mailing opposing Gladson and $13,000 mailing opposing Slater. click on image to view larger document.
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Further documents show there could be a barrage of media hitting Orange mailboxes very soon.
Atlas late contribution reports show the PAC taking in a massive $110,000 since late September:
$24,000 from the Irvine-based Fieldstead & Co., funded by Howard, Roberta, and their son David Ahmanson.
$20,000 from the Wilson Auto Group
$20,000 from Ontario’s Prime Healthcare
$10,500 from attorney Shawn Steel based in Seal Beach
$10,000 from Burrtec Waste Industries in Fontana
$9,900 from Wichita, Kansas-based Clark Investment Group; the company’s website shows it owns properties from Storage Centers in Connecticut to a drive-thru car wash in Costa Mesa.
Under FPPC rules, if Atlas receives or spends more than $1,000, it must file a late expenditure report within 24 hours, otherwise known as a 496 Form.
The same rules apply to Slater and Gladson.
Atlas contributions since September, click on image to view larger document.
