Debbie Poochigian, one of the candidates challenging Supervisor Bob Waterston in next year's District 5 race, is running third in fund-raising, according to the political wiseguys in the county. That's true if you don't look at all the campaign statements on file in the Fresno County Elections Office.

This is the way some people see the fund-raising race so far: Clovis Council Member Nathan Magsig leads with close to $214,000, with Waterston having more than $208,000. Poochigian is third with $168,900.

But look a little deeper and you'll see that Poochigian has other money potentially at her disposal. Her father, the late Deran Koligian, still has $108,737 in his old supervisorial account. Her husband, former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, has $148,848 in his account from his unsuccessful run for attorney general last year.

It's unclear whether Debbie Poochigian can transfer all of that money to her supervisorial campaign. But if she can, she has $426,485 available without holding another fund-raiser. Maybe she won't be able to use all that money because of campaign laws, and maybe her husband will want to keep his campaign account open in case he runs for something in 2010.

But just maybe she is way ahead of her opponents already and they don't even know it. Some think this will be a million-dollar race, with three experienced and well-funded politicians running. Poochigian has proven in dozens of campaigns over a generation that she's a major fund-raiser for others. That's a lot of IOUs, and she hasn't even asked donors to dig deeply into their pockets yet. She could be a million-dollar candidate all by herself.

Posted by Jim Boren at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The race for Fresno County supervisor in District 5 will be a classic. Here's my take on the three-way campaigning pitting incumbent Bob Waterston against Clovis City Council Member Nathan Magsig and longtime Republican activist Debbie Poochigian.

Here's the opening paragraph of my column on the race:

"Somewhere between being so popular in 2004 that he was unopposed for re-election and today, when he faces two well-financed opponents, the political career of Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston careened off track."

Posted by Jim Boren at 8:32 AM | Permalink

His political opponents think so. Clovis City Council Member Nathan Magsig will formally announce his candidacy for Supervisor Bob Waterston's District 5 seat at 10 a.m. Tuesday. And Debbie Poochigian, the daughter of the late Supervisor Deran Koligian and the wife of former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, says she'll also challenge Waterston when he's up for re-election next year.

Waterston has been in political trouble since recent revelations of ethical problems. This will be a high-profile race and there will be a lot of money spent as the three candidates slug it out.

A recent Bee story about the fund-raising race reports this:

Magsig leads the three candidates with close to $214,000 in his campaign coffers, and Waterston has more than $208,000 in his account, according to recently released finance reports.

But in the period from Jan. 1 to June 30 of this year, Poochigian has far outdistanced both Magsig, who raised $85,636, and Waterston, who collected $93,424.

Poochigian raised her $168,900 in less than three months. Among her 72 donors, one-third gave $5,000 each.

Magsig issued a news release Monday explaining his announcement plans. Here's the entire news release:

Continue reading "Is that a huge bullseye painted on Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston's back?" »

Posted by Jim Boren at 1:56 PM | Permalink

Supervisor Bob Waterston seems to be so ethically challenged that you want to grab him and scream, "Think for once in your life!" In the latest saga highlighting the supervisor's special-interest coziness, he purchased a luxury vehicle from a Table Mountain Rancheria official at a discount.

Let's just say this was an innocent mistake. But shouldn't some alarm go off in Waterston's head suggesting that it may not look very good to buy a car at a discount from an official of a gambling tribe that has business before the Board of Supervisors? Apparently not. Waterston has a huge blind spot when it comes to what's appropriate as a county supervisor.

Bee reporters Tim Eberly and Kerri Ginis reported the latest Waterson adventure. They also recounted this past behavior by Waterston in Sunday's story in The Bee:

While he was a member of the Local Agency Formation Commission, Waterston supported annexations to Sanger from 2004 through 2006 that benefitted two developers with whom he had business relationships.

His pool-construction business worked for RZR Enterprises and Mister C Investments, both of which needed housing tracts annexed to Sanger so they could connect to the city's sewer and water system.

Waterston resigned from LAFCO on May 8 after The Bee published details of his dealings with RZR Enterprises.

There was a time that I thought Waterston could learn from his previous problems, and get on a proper course with a little coaching. But I'm not so sure now. I think playing it close to the ethical line is part of his DNA.

Posted by Jim Boren at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)