Contracting out

San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio’s campaign to qualify his controversial city contracting measure — the so-called Competition and Transparency in City Contracting Initiative — for the city ballot isn’t hurting for money, thanks to an array of contractors from across the state. As of March 31, according to its campaign disclosure statements, DeMaio’s committee had raised a total of $161,300 this year; it spent $165,212, much of it on the services of the La Jolla Group, a consultant specializing in signature gathering for initiative campaigns.

Two of the biggest donors so far have been the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, a Poway-based contractor-financed advocacy group, with $45,237, and the Infrastructure PAC of the Associated General Contractors, with $63,000. The Western Electrical Contractors Association gave $20,000. TTS Construction of Lodi, California, gave $1000, and Helix Electric contributed $10,000. DeMaio’s personal political committee, Reforming City Hall with Carl DeMaio, kicked in $15,000.

Meanwhile, on March 2, the San Diego Restaurant and Beverage Political Action Committee, which is sponsored by the California Restaurant Association, gave $10,000 to San Diegans for Accountability at City Hall, the campaign to pass Proposition D, which would maintain San Diego’s strong mayor form of government.