Oakland East Bay Symphony conductor Michael Morgan \u2014 or, as he was billed on the invitation, \u201cMaestro Morgan\u201d \u2014 was the star of a fundraiser at an Oakland Hills home Monday night for Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. Top ticket: $700 to be dubbed an \u201cEncore Mayor,\u201d according to the invite. One hundred dollars got you in the door as a \u201cClassical Champ.\u201d Check out the photos here.<\/p>\n
As the invite to the party said: \u201cCome see Maestro Morgan, Joe Heb\u00e9rt and Carla Picchi perform a trio for guests and one of their biggest fans, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan!\u201d<\/p>\n
Is there anything wrong with that, considering that the City of Oakland is one of the Symphony’s top sponsors \u2014 giving at least $50,000? Would that make it a little awk-sauce when the Symphony comes before the City Council and Quan for another refill?<\/p>\n
No, say ethics experts. Because Morgan was acting on his off hours as an individual, he is within the ethical boundaries of campaign finance law, said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think that there is anything unethical or improper here,\u201d Ravel told The Chronicle. \u201cBut clearly it is an in-kind political contribution so it will be necessary for the campaign to disclose that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there is no need for Quan to recuse herself from any funding decisions involving the Symphony, Ravel said. The City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission told us that they deferred to the state commish on this issue.<\/p>\n
Jessica Levinson, a campaign finance expert and law professor with Loyola University Law School in Los Angeles, said the situation \u201csounds like it’s strange but it’s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn’t appear that the stench of undue influence has infiltrated this situation,\u201d Levinson said. (Don’t you love a law professor who can drop \u201cstench\u201d into a sentence so gracefully?)<\/p>\n
The event drew 30 to 40 people, Annie Eagan, Quan’s fundraiser, told us. She says she has not yet tallied how much the event pulled in. Including the in-kind contribution from \u201cMaestro.\u201d<\/p>\n
http:\/\/blog.sfgate.com\/nov05election\/2013\/09\/24\/mayor-quan-fundraiser-with-symphony-conductor-a-little-strange-but-legal\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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