The La Mesa Vice Mayor has asked for $700,000 in donations to a charity that he runs in his role as an elected official.
La Mesa Vice Mayor Colin Parent serves as chief executive officer for Circulate San Diego, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainable growth and public transportation. Parent, a Democrat, has disclosed nearly $700,000 of behested payments to that very same nonprofit.
A behested payment is made by third parties at the suggestion of an elected official for charitable, legislative, or governmental purposes. Political experts have called these donations a possible conflict of interest.
“Even if everything is legal, the public perception is horrible,” said Sean McMorris of California Common Cause, a nonprofit group that promotes government transparency.
Parent, a second-term councilmember, announced last month that he is running for California State Assembly. Councilmembers only serve part-time in La Mesa.
“As an elected official, when you’re involved in this kind of activity, where money is exchanged at an elected official’s request, the public has every right to question whether a public official’s loyalty is with that donor or with the public,” McMorris said of the situation.
Parent vigorously defended his actions, claiming he did nothing wrong.
“California does require that donations that elected officials help solicit to a nonprofit be disclosed to the public through a behested form,” Parent explained. “I carefully follow those requirements and file all the necessary behested forms.”
Circulate San Diego’s federal tax filings show Parent received $141,000 in 2021 (14% of the company’s revenue). Meanwhile, public documents show he made about $30,000 serving on the city council that same year.
While Circulate San Diego is a nonprofit, its website says it runs as a “fee-for-service planning team” for both private and public clients. Additionally, it claims it advocates in favor of certain projects that adhere to the nonprofit’s standards for “smart growth.” However, Parent claims he has abstained from voting on any project or issue that would have created a conflict between his two jobs.
Parent specifically pointed to the situation involving a possible partnership between La Mesa and the San Diego Foundation. This union would have been established to develop the Livable La Mesa plan. This plan was produced by the city, the foundation, and Circulate San Diego. Parent refrained from voting on the partnership, but the San Diego Foundation gave his nonprofit $50,000 two years later.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission has explained that behested payments must be publicly disclosed if they are $5,000 or more within 30 days. Parent appears to have violated this standard 34 times.
“Occasionally, internal processes at Circulate have not immediately flagged for me donations that required behested payments,” Parent said.
“Nevertheless, as soon as I became aware of donations to Circulate that required the filing of behested payment forms, those forms were immediately filed with the La Mesa City Clerk.”
