STOP Slams Bribery Accusations in Sacramento Kings Arena Petition Gathering
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The group trying to stop an arena from being built in downtown Sacramento is fighting allegations it bribed people to sign a petition.
Sacramento Taxpayers Opposing Pork wants to put the arena on the ballot and says they never promised voters a discount on their energy bill if they signed a petition.
"This is dirty politics at its worst," said group founder Julian Comacho.
It is illegal to use voter information to sell a service.
Monica Harris says her company did not blend the signature drive with the energy provider.
"There was no coordination, no overlap, no cross-pollination whatsoever."
Arena supporter Josh Wood brought the allegations to the secretary of state. He says this is yet another denial by STOP.
"We are not seeking things to get them on, but when we find glaring errors and blatant disregard for election law then we are going to hold them accountable."
STOP claims they are on track to place the measure on the ballot. But the signatures gathered by Chris Hansen's money may never be turned in, as the man who nearly took the Sacramento Kings to Seattle is no longer willing to play ball with STOP.
"We have an attorney that we mentioned is working with Chris Hansen's attorney to obtain any signatures that he may have," said STOP spokesman John Hyde.
Hansen vowed not to turn in the signatures after it was revealed his $100,000 check went to fund the signature-gathering campaign. STOP has tried to distance themselves from the hedge fund manager, but does not want to give up the work already done.
"You can't have it both ways- they've always tried to pretend they are separate from Chris Hansen, yet they are claiming his signatures as theirs," Wood said.
Harris says Vista Energy dropped her as a client, and she is now exploring legal action over the allegations.
