http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/1153072p-1220775c.html

 

Blunt Capitol donor makes his own rules

Steve Beneto Jr., a Republican, gives to Democrats and sits on the fair board.

By Dan Smith -- Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief
Published 5:11 AM PST Sunday, Nov. 11, 2001

Steve Beneto Jr., his friends and associates say, is a blunt and fiercely independent man used to doing things his own way -- especially in politics.

The West Sacramento trucking magnate, philanthropist and avid horseman built a lucrative fuel tanker-truck empire out of a Lake Tahoe bread route and a Sacramento root beer stand.

At the Capitol, the 64-year-old Republican has become a major political donor to Democrats, particularly Gov. Gray Davis and Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, and won a gubernatorial appointment to the California State Fair board of directors.

In September, the state was poised to lease an airplane from Beneto to move Davis around the state in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the East Coast, a plan that was scuttled after it was disclosed in media reports. Davis frequently has leased Beneto's planes for campaign trips, according to the governor's campaign reports.

Despite his political and charitable giving, his position on the fair board and his high-profile trucking business, Beneto prefers to fly under the radar as much as possible.

"We like to live a private life," he said before declining repeated interview requests for this story.

The usually talkative Burton, the recipient of at least $87,000 in campaign contributions from Beneto in 2000 alone, also declined to be interviewed for this story, citing Beneto's desire for privacy.

Beneto has a spotty record of filing required reports detailing the money he has given to Davis and other state politicians since 1997, despite far exceeding the $10,000 threshold for major political donors, according to the secretary of state's office.

He only recently filed the 1999 and 2000 tax reports required of tax-exempt foundations making charitable contributions, according to the attorney general's office.

Those who know him say Beneto does and says what he wants, sometimes with stunning bluntness.

"When you're done with a conversation with Steve Beneto, you know where you stand. He doesn't sugarcoat anything," said Rick Rollens, a former top Senate staffer who worked with Beneto and other parents of autistic children to help launch the MIND Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) at the University of California, Davis.

Beneto shows his independence by refusing to join the California Trucking Association, opting to hire his own lobbyist to protect his business interests at the Capitol.

"He gets into this control thing," said Kirk Breed, who is Beneto's lobbyist and serves with him on the fair board. "It really comes down to control. You put your money into these associations and what do you get out of it?"

Les Cohen, a retired lobbyist for the California Independent Oil Marketers Association, said Beneto took the same approach with that organization, despite his ownership of dozens of gasoline stations.

"There's always a couple of guys who think they are politically powerful on their own," Cohen said. "They'll be part of the team, but never do anything with the team."

Beneto has, however, been a solid member of Davis' $100,000 team, having donated that amount to the governor's campaign fund in both 1999 and 2000, according to Davis' campaign disclosure statements. Davis appointed him to the fair board in April 2000.

That same spring, lawmakers, led by Burton, and Davis gave a huge boost to the MIND Institute, appropriating $34 million in the state budget for a major expansion. Beneto and another member of the governor's $100,000 donor club -- Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos -- had each contributed $500,000 to the MIND Institute in 1998 to get the center going.

The Governor's Office has denied any connection between the MIND Institute grant and the political support from Beneto and Tsakopoulos. And Rollens, who lobbied hard for the state support along with other parents of autistic children, said he doesn't know what special role Beneto may have played with Davis.

According to the tax reports of Beneto's charitable trust, he has contributed an average of $167,000 in each of the last three years, much of it to Sacramento-area charities. The largest chunk each year -- $100,000 -- goes to the Devereaux Foundation, which operates a series of nonprofit treatment centers in several states.

Some of the Devereaux centers in Pennsylvania bear Beneto's name -- a tribute to his charitable giving. His adult son lives in the Devereaux facility in Santa Barbara, which also receives state funding.

Breed said most of his work for Beneto involves trucking and labor issues related to Beneto Tank Lines, which boasts 180 tankers and truck terminals in three Western states. But Breed said Beneto lobbies the governor himself on mental health issues.

"If there's anything on this guy's mind, it's mental health issues," Breed said. "He knows that there's nothing that can be done for his kid because he's 40 years old. But there's all these other people walking around. That's where he's used his access the most."

Beneto wasn't always a Davis fan. He supported Republican Dan Lungren in the 1998 election, but had Breed try to arrange a meeting with Davis after the Democrat's overwhelming victory.

"Steve says, 'I kind of like what this guy says. He's not as liberal as I thought he was going to be. I'd like to talk to him,' " Breed related. Davis eventually called Beneto after the inauguration in early 1999, Breed said.

Sacramento lawyer Joe Genshlea, whom Beneto supported with a $25,000 loan in last year's mayor's race, said generosity comes naturally for his former classmate at Sacramento's Christian Brothers High School.

"He is a self-made man and he is a guy with a big heart," Genshlea said. "We never had any in-depth conversations (about the mayor's race). He was just very supportive."

Breed said Beneto came to support Democrats more than a decade ago, when he sought out then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to discuss an issue sure to affect his gasoline stations -- an emerging state requirement to replace all leaking underground gasoline storage tanks.

"I told Steve, 'You're going to have to become a player,' " Breed recalled. "Otherwise, you're just another guy on the street corner."

About the Reporter
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The Bee's Dan Smith can be reached at (916) 321-5249 or smith@sacbee.com .