Lawyer Plays Spin Doctor
By Stephen C. Smith
Irvine Tattler Publisher
Posted June 14, 2008
Updated June 21, 2008
Attorney Connected to Sukhee Kang Smears the
Councilman's Opponent for November's Mayoral Election
Todd Gallinger has been connected with Councilman Sukhee Kang (above), a candidate for Mayor this November.
(Photo Source: City of Irvine)
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Todd Gallinger now performs live.
The lawyer who laundered Democratic Party money into Irvine's non-partisan municipal election continues
to smear Councilwoman Christina Shea, this time attacking her during the Public Comments segment of
the June 10th City Council meeting.
Click Here to watch Gallinger's remarks. Windows
Media Player and a broadband (cable modem, DSL) Internet connection are required.
The Irvine Tattler reported on June 1 that
Gallinger is an associate of Councilman Sukhee Kang, who intends to run for mayor this November against Shea.
Gallinger has also been linked to Irvine Mayor
Beth Krom, although Gallinger denies knowing her. Kang
and Krom are allied with Councilman Larry Agran to form a 3-2 City Council majority against Shea and Councilman Steven Choi.
Krom and Gallinger sent mailers last month to Irvine voters falsely accusing Shea of being a lobbyist.
Gallinger's mailer was paid for by $3,800 received
from an Orange County Democratic fund. Kang, Krom and Agran are all Democrats active with the Orange County Democratic Party.
A Doctor in the House
Gallinger's speech before the City Council came during Public Comments, when by law council members may not respond no matter
how false a speaker's statements may be.
Gallinger gave the City Clerk a document he asked be made part of the public record. The document included a letter he
addressed to Shea, and a 2005 memo in which he claimed Shea admitted she was
a lobbyist.
The Irvine Tattler obtained
a copy of the document and found that Gallinger had
changed Shea's words to make it appear she had admitted to being a lobbyist.
On Page 2 of his written statement, Gallinger quoted Shea as writing in 2005:
[Lobbying] is what I do for a living. I am a government relations consultant and I speak to National, State and
local officials at time, for my clients ...
The Irvine Tattler also
obtained a copy of Shea's 2005 memo. Here's what she really wrote:
I just reread the new proposed "Ethics Ordinance". I am troubled by new language that has been inserted
into the ordinance by Councilmember Agran. This new proposed language was never discussed at our open meeting. (That is item 10
under City allegiance and proper conduct.)
I believe, in my opinion, that this section has been added to force me to resign from the City Council because this is what
I do for a living. I am a government relations consultant and I speak to National, State and local officials at time, for
my clients, as Councilmember Agran well knows. This new language is, in my opinion, discriminatory, is profiling me, and a
personal attack to force me to resign. I will not have the ability to make a good living and retain my position on the
City Council if this section remains in the ordinance. We already have very strict laws that protect our residents from
Councilmembers taking advantage of their position with their personal business. I try to follow all these laws very
carefully. I believe this new proposal is unconstitutional and illegal.
Shea never wrote that she is a lobbyist. Gallinger inserted the word "Lobbying" in brackets to make it appear Shea
had admitted it. But what she'd actually written was that the original language of the ordinance — which was subsequently
modified — was written too broadly and would include people who were not lobbyists.
During his remarks, Gallinger posed to Shea the question: “Were you lying then or are you lying now?”
When Shea tried to respond to Gallinger's allegation, Mayor Beth Krom cut her off and refused to let her speak in her defense.
“I'm in government relations, I do not lobby,” Shea told Gallinger, but Krom ruled she could not speak.
“Councilwoman Shea, this is public comment, not to be responded to,” Krom directed.
Gallinger repeated the charge, knowing Shea would not be allowed to respond.
Another Doctored Document
Gallinger claimed that during the May 27 City Council meeting, “Councilwoman Shea criticized me for quoting an
Orange County Register article that found she was, in fact, a lobbyist.”
In fact, Gallinger played doctor with the Register too.
Gallinger's Measure H mailer featured a graphically altered
version of a January 11, 2006 Register article titled, “Irvine Debates Rules on Lobbying and Ethics.”
The sub-headline in Gallinger's version states, “One provision of a proposed ordinance could be trouble for
Councilwoman Christina Shea, who is a lobbyist.”
But that's not what the version in the Register archives says.
The Irvine Tattler located
the online version in the Register archives. The sub-headline in that article reads, “Calm debate marked
by Shea's and Choi's dissent.”
Here's what the article said about Shea's profession:
Shea runs a government consulting firm, which likely would fall under the provisions of the ordinance's lobbying provisions. No
allegations have been made against Shea on her lobbying work.
To Shea, the ordinance is little more than a vehicle to run her out of office; for Agran the "false statements" element is
protection against what he says have been unsubstantiated charges against him over the years of cronyism, backroom maneuvering
and advancing his own interests.
Shea says she will recuse herself from any council vote involving a client, though she doesn't expect that to happen because
she has avoided working for clients wanting to do business with the city. Still, she said, the ordinance would tarnish her
unfairly in the upcoming election.
Councilman Steven Choi has shared many of Shea's concerns over the ordinance and said he, too, believes it was targeted
against her.
“Government relations” work is not the same as lobbying.
Dictionary.com defines a “lobbyist”
as, “a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest; a member of a lobby.”
Government relations may involve no more than public relations, marketing, or assisting a client with
filing bureaucratic paperwork. Some people working in the government relations field may work as lobbyists, but many
do not.
Shea is not registered with either the City of Irvine or the State of California as a lobbyist, which is required by law.
Kang, Krom, Agran Tied to Lobbyists
The Irvine Tattler reported on February 25 that
Krom and Agran have documented lobbyist ties. A June 1 article reported that
Kang took $1,749 during the 2006 election from lobbyists registered with the City of Irvine.
Agran first made the false lobbying allegations against Shea in December 2005. Since then, he and his allies have failed to produce
any evidence showing Shea has worked as a lobbyist, talked to an elected official as a lobbyist, or been paid for lobbying work.
The Irvine Tattler reported on February 25 that
Agran proposed the lobbying provision as part of a scheme to send campaign mailers smearing
Shea during the 2006 election. The slate mailers were paid for by over $300,000 raised by a slush fund controlled by a former Agran
political appointee. The fund's donations came from
Great Park contractors, and developers with business before the City Council.
One of the biggest donors to the slush fund was Maguire Properties. While negotiating a development agreement amendment with Irvine,
Maguire paid $120,000 into the fund to pay for slate mailers that attacked Shea. The three later voted in closed session
to approve the amendment. Their act led to a lawsuit filed by two prominent
Irvine residents alleging their vote behind closed doors was illegal.
Kang also accepted a $410 donation directly to his mayoral campaign
fund from developer Maguire, then later voted to approve Maguire's amendment.
During the January 24, 2006 City Council deliberations to
finalize the lobbying regulations, Shea made a motion that council members be required to keep a list of lobbyists who
have contacted them. Choi supported it. Kang, Krom and Agran voted against it. The motion failed, so to this day the three-member
council majority can meet with all the lobbyists they want and no one will know about it.
UPDATE: Gallinger's Irvine Residency Claim Unproven
(Posted June 21, 2008)
In his June 10 letter to Shea, Gallinger wrote:
I am a private citizen and an almost lifelong resident of Irvine. My family first moved to this great city
when I was only 2 or 3 years old and my father was attending the University of California at Irvine. I attended public
schools in Irvine for every level of my education, elementary school through junior college. After graduating from the
George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., three years ago, I returned to Irvine to open my law firm.
Since then, I try to be active within the Irvine community and serve on the board of directors for the New Horizons
Elementary School and also as Chair of the Housing and Transportation Sub-Committee of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.
The Irvine Tattler checked various online sources to verify Gallinger's Irvine residency. No
evidence could be located that he's resided in Irvine.
A query of the Intelius service for anyone named Todd Gallinger in the United States
generated this result:
Todd Eric Gallinger is the individual who spoke before the City Council. The Intelius search showed addresses in various Orange County
cities, but not Irvine.
A search of Todd Gallinger on WhitePages.com for all cities in the United States
showed Gallinger's business address in Irvine, but no residential address. It also showed listings for a Todd Gallinger in Cerritos,
Long Beach and Lake Forest.
In a May 2006 article in the Orange County Register,
Gallinger was identified as “a lawyer from Aliso Viejo.”
Gallinger wrote that he is on the board of directors for the New Horzions Elementary School. This is
a private Islamic school located
in north Irvine. According to the school's web site www.newhorizons.org:
New Horizon seeks to develop in each student a positive identity as an American Muslim who is prepared intellectually, socially, emotionally,
spiritually, and physically to succeed as leaders in tomorrow’s world. New Horizon students are expected to integrate academic skills, Qur’anic principles,
and ethical behavior in order to make positive contributions to the global community. New Horizon aims to develop in each student a balanced character
enriched with knowledge, inspired to excellence, and committed to the betterment of family, community, and humanity.
The Irvine Tattler reported on May 26 that Gallinger has associated
with radical international groups. He advertises on
Muslims Online Directory that he has worked with Muslim charities in the United States and abroad. The May 26 article noted that some of these
organizations have been raided by federal agencies, suspected of fundraising for terrorist groups.
Southern California InFocus, which describes itself as “the largest Muslim newspaper in California,”
published an article in January 2007 by Gallinger in which he explained why he renounced Christianity and accepted Islam as his faith. Although he discusses
his upbringing, nowhere does he mention that he was raised or lived in Irvine.
PREVIOUS ARTICLES:
Krom's Lobbyist Connections
"City Council Schedules $200,000 Redundant Election for June"
"Preparation for 'H' Begins"
"Krom's Rebuttal: 'Defame, Distort and Distract'"
"Krom Defends Measure H Ballot Statement"
"Krom's Unethical Ethics Letter"
"Democratic Fund Injects Money into Measure H Special Election"
"Gallinger Claims Measure H Article was 'False and Libelous'"
"Kang Connected to Latest Measure H Smear Mailer"
