(May 14)  Chad Mayes, the former Yucca Valley mayor and current chief of staff to San Bernardino County Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford who is now vying for State Assembly in the 42nd district, has accepted at least $72,700 in substantial contributions from individuals or companies residing, based or operating well outside the confines of the 42nd District.
The sourcing and amounts of many of those contributions are of concern because of the influence they could have with regard to issues impacting the 42nd District if Mayes is elected as well as upon issues in San Bernardino County’s Second District, where Mayes is the primary advisor and policy formulator in Rutherford’s office.
Mayes has received $1,000 from Majestic Realty Co. of the city of Industry; $2,500 from Melissa Melendez For Assembly 2014 of Elk Grove;  $3,000 from the Mitsubishi Cement Corp. of Lucerne Valley; $1,000 from Pain Rehabilitation & Critical Care Medical Group, Inc. of Claremont; $1,000 from Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. of New York;  $1,000 from Paul M Attyah of Los Angeles;  $6,000 from Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. of Ontario;  $2,000 from the Rancho Cucamonga Professional Firefighters Association Political Action Committee, which is based in Sacramento; $1,000 from Ravco Construction, Inc.  of Orange; $4,100 from Reggie King of  Rancho Cucamonga; $4,000 from Richard J. Gottlieb of Beverly Hills;  $2,000 from Robertson’s Ready Mix of Corona;  $1,000 from Rodney W Borger of Colton; $2,500 from Ronald Cunning of Montclair; $1,000 from Roy Tyra of Whittier; $4,100 from the political action committee of the San Manuel Band Of Mission Indians, based in Los Angeles; $4,100 from Vanir Construction Management, Inc. of Sacramento; $1,000 from Veneokumar Nathraj of Anaheim; $1,000 from Donald Rogers of San Bernardino; $500 from the Lilburn Corporation of San Bernardino; $500 from Fontana City Councilman Saleh Michael Tahan; $500 from Brickley Construction of San Bernardino;  $1,000 from Letitia White of Fort Washington, Maryland; $1,000 from the Law Offices of Fullerton, Lemann, Schaefer & Dominick of San Bernardino; $500 from a political action committee controlled by San Bernardino County Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, which is based in Santa Margarita; $4,100 from David Weiner of Beverly Hills; $500 from QMG Services of Ontario; $500 from Galaxy Investment Partners of West Hollywood; $1,000 from Derek Reinig of Newport Beach; $4,100 from Lloyd Fields of Beverly Hills; $500 from Vince Farhut of Pasadena; $500 from KCB Towers of Highland; $2,000 from Susan Patane of Biggs, Ca; $2,000 from Frontier Finance of Rancho Cucamonga; $500 from Environmental Logistics, Inc. of Bloomington; $1,000 from Cal Portland of Glendora; $500 from the Watson Land Company of Carson; $4,100 from the Committee To Elect Gary Ovitt, based in Santa Margarita; $4,100 from the Janice Rutherford For Supervisor Campaign Fund, based in Fontana; $1,000 from the Law Firm of Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden of San Bernardino;  $1,000 from Valley Obstetrics & Gynecology of Colton; $1,000 from Pain Rehabilitation & Critical Care Medical Group of Claremont; and $500 from Phillip Waller of Upland.
Some of the donations may represent a degree of political complication for the Mayes campaign or for Rutherford, who is herself involved in a reelection campaign at present.
One of the donors, Letitia White, is a Washington, D.C. lobbyist who was targeted by the FBI in a four-year long probe that related to influence peddling on behalf of her clients.
The $4,100 Mayes received from Ovitt’s reelection committee could be questioned because of the potential conflict it presents, given his work for Rutherford, who represents the county’s Fourth District on the board of supervisors and Ovitt’s status as the supervisor for the county’s Fourth District.
Political purists may recognize a problem in Mayes receiving money from the supervisor, Rutherford, who employs him.
David Wiener, who has pursued development projects in Fontana, was widely portrayed as a corruption figure in that city in the 1980s and 1990s, largely on the basis of his involvement in the Trust 45 Scandal and his identification by former Fontana Mayor Nat Simon as a “pay to play” donor during the 1990 election. The $6,000 provide to Mayes by Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. exceeds the state’s $4,100 campaign donation limit by $1,900.