{"id":127833,"date":"2026-05-09T11:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/09\/shadow-of-black-money-on-la-elections-mysterious-group-releases-attack-emails\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:46:25","slug":"shadow-of-black-money-on-la-elections-mysterious-group-releases-attack-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/09\/shadow-of-black-money-on-la-elections-mysterious-group-releases-attack-emails\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadow of ‘black money’ on LA elections, mysterious group releases attack emails"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first time Highland Park resident Paul Zappia received a mailer criticizing Eunice Hernandez, his representative on the Los Angeles City Council, he threw it in the trash.<\/p>\n

Then another one arrived in his mailbox. And another, and then another. Each comes from a group called Neighbors First, which is attacking Hernandez, a democratic socialist, over her voting against police hiring and her opposition to legislation that would ban homeless encampments near schools.<\/p>\n

Zappia, who supports Hernandez in the June 2 primary, said he focused on Neighbors First website<\/a> But no information could be found about the group \u2013 not even a staff directory, phone number or email address.<\/p>\n

“It’s really frustrating that groups like this can spend a lot of money at local races, but it’s almost impossible for me to find out anything about them,” said the 36-year-old graphic designer.<\/p>\n

Zappia and other L.A. voters are getting their first big taste of “Money earned by doing dishonest things,”<\/a> Well-funded groups are focusing on local candidates \u2014 and doing it all while keeping their donors anonymous. The Supreme Court paved the way for this phenomenon in several decisions concluding that political spending is a freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

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Highland Park resident Paul Zappia is receiving “dark money” campaign mailers attacking City Council Member Eunice Hernandez.<\/p>\n

(Gina Frazee\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

In LA, Neighbors First has sent mail pieces promoting more liberal City Council candidates and criticizing those endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, who pursue left-wing policies. Because it is a 501(c)(4) charitable organization, Neighbors First is not required to disclose who paid for those messages. <\/p>\n

On the Westside, the group has praised Council Member Traci Parks, who is seeking to fend off a challenge from DSA-backed attorney Faiza Malik. In South LA, the group has sent out mailings criticizing Estuardo Mazariegos, who is running to replace council member Curran Price with DSA support.<\/p>\n

A second group, known as American middle ground,<\/a> He appears to be taking a similar approach, sending glossy mailers that promote the park and attack Hernandez on his stances on public safety and homelessness. Its mail pieces and website do not identify its donors.<\/p>\n

According to paperwork filed with the Secretary of State, Neighbors First was formed last year as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with San Rafael-based attorney Steven S. Lucas served as its chief financial officer.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Rivera, a former senior aide to City Council member Gil Cedillo, who lost to Hernandez, confirmed in a text message to The Times that she is one of the group’s advisers.<\/p>\n

According to Ethics Commission records, Rivera worked until last june<\/a> As a registered lobbyist<\/a> For McCourt Partners<\/a> LLC, the real estate firm founded by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, which still owns half of the Dodger Stadium parking lot.<\/p>\n

Rivera lobbied city officials last year on a proposed Gondola connecting Union Station to Dodger Stadium, a concept first introduced by McCourt in 2018.<\/p>\n

Hernandez, whose district includes the stadium, has been the project’s most vocal political foe, warning that it would disrupt neighborhoods, damage a park in Chinatown and drive out longtime renters and businesses.<\/p>\n

McCourt Partners spokeswoman Jessica Sause said in an email that “neither Frank McCourt nor any of his entities have contributed to Neighbors First.”<\/p>\n

Rivera did not answer other questions about Neighbors First and simply said that it is “working to elevate the voices of everyday Angelenos.” A Form<\/a> The filing with the Ethics Commission provides a little more detail, saying Neighbors First spent about $366,000 between Jan. 1 and March 31 on activities related to police funding, affordable housing, emergency response and other issues.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, Rivera has also been involved with a nonprofit called Vibrant LA, according to a slide deck presented by the group and reviewed by The Times. That document outlined strategies for electing centrists to the council.<\/p>\n

The slide deck identified Rivera as Vibrant LA’s executive director and Jay Cheng, a San Francisco-based political consultant who spent several years leading the advocacy group. Neighbors for a better San Francisco,<\/a> As political advisor to the group.<\/p>\n

Rivera did not respond to The Times’ question about whether he was still involved with Vibrant. Cheng confirmed in an interview that he advises Vibrant LA but is unaware of Neighbors First. He touted the success of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco in that city, working to remind the district. Atty. Chesa Boudin and elect a centrist majority to that county’s Board of Supervisors. Vibrant LA has formed a fundraising committee and will be active in supporting moderates, Cheng said. <\/p>\n

McCourt’s spokesman, Sause, did not respond to a Times inquiry asking whether McCourt or his companies had contributed to Vibrant.<\/p>\n

Dark money has become a major force in state and national elections following a Supreme Court decision that struck down a ban on “issue ads” that highlight a candidate’s political positions but do not explicitly tell how someone should vote.<\/p>\n

Still, the concept is new to L.A.’s municipal elections, said former council member Mike Bonin, who spent 24 years working at City Hall.<\/p>\n

Bonin said real estate developers, labor unions and other well-funded donors have historically followed “Democratic norms,” \u200b\u200bidentifying their largest contributors on their ads and naming them all in their public filings.<\/p>\n

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Former council member Mike Bonin is shown in October 2022.<\/p>\n

(Irrfan Khan\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is a new phenomenon that ignores the idea that transparency and disclosure are important,\u201d he said. “So we don’t know if this money is coming from some foreign entity. We don’t know if this money is coming from some tech giant in San Francisco.” <\/p>\n

Bonin first expressed concerns about Neighbors First last month, writing about his group Substack.<\/a> He has endorsed three candidates being targeted by Neighbors First: Hernandez, Mazariegos and Malik.<\/p>\n

The promotional material for Neighbors First is mostly bare bones. On its website, the group says it is a coalition of L.A. residents “promoting a safer, cleaner, more prosperous and more collaborative city.”<\/p>\n

The website says, “We’re building a movement for real change: more affordable housing, safer and cleaner neighborhoods, better schools and child care, and a culture of collaboration that turns ideas into solutions.”<\/p>\n

Under federal law, nonprofit groups like Neighbors First must participate in activities that benefit social welfare, said Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, an academic group at Wesleyan University that tracks political ad spending.<\/p>\n

Franz said 501(c)(4) dark money groups typically devote substantial resources to mail pieces, television commercials or other types of media that highlight a candidate’s political stances or legislative history.<\/p>\n

“Even though they look exactly like attack ads, they package them as civics education,” he said.<\/p>\n

Neighbors First has been particularly active on the city’s Eastside, putting up billboards and sending mailers criticizing Hernandez on such issues as his recent vote against hiring 170 more police officers and his opposition to a law against homeless encampments near schools.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said in an interview that she did not know who was funding the group. However, she clarified that she sees corporations and billionaires as the most likely prospects.<\/p>\n

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Los Angeles City Council member Eunice Hernandez smiles after holding a news conference in MacArthur Park on April 22.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201c(This) looks like an effort to buy up various council seats in the city of L.A.,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mazariegos, another target of Neighbors First, said he believes the group has wealthy supporters who “do not have the best interests of our community” at heart.<\/p>\n

In LA, advocacy groups like California Common Cause and the California Clean Money Campaign have asked the Ethics Commission to respond to the increasing number of issue ads being sent by groups like Neighbors First.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned that a race to the bottom has begun,\u201d the groups said in an April 17 letter, \u201cand that other political entities will feel forced to adopt similar tactics of using gimmicky ads.\u201d <\/p>\n

Neighborhoods First has also been criticized by other City Hall advisers, who say the group is skirting rules designed to show the source of a political message.<\/p>\n

“If you have a point of view, you have to be willing to say who you are,” said Lisa Gritzner, a veteran City Hall lobbyist. “That’s what our system is based on.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time Highland Park resident Paul Zappia received a mailer criticizing Eunice Hernandez, his representative on the Los Angeles City Council, he threw it in the trash. Then another one arrived in his mailbox. And another, and then another. Each comes from a group called Neighbors First, which is attacking Hernandez, a democratic socialist,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1279,1615,1987,4855,2606,862,2469,592,4396],"class_list":["post-127833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-attack","tag-black","tag-elections","tag-emails","tag-group","tag-money","tag-mysterious","tag-releases","tag-shadow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127849,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127833\/revisions\/127849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}