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Nielsen's
dubious past
*
Former senator Jim Nielsen has been embroiled in one ethical conflict
after another - has anything changed other than his wives?
By Daniel Webster
Pioneer
Press
page
W1, column 2
Former Senator Jim Nielsen, who was ousted from office 18 years ago, has
a history of being dogged by ethical conflict. His current issue of
whether he had legally established his residency in the district to
register to vote - so he could therefore run for state assembly - is
just another conflict he must address with the voters.
The voters in his last election in 1990 sent him packing. He then went
on to be appointed to the state prison board, until Governor
Schwarzenegger removed him recently.
He is now seeking to make a comeback and is currently running for state
assembly.
Former Chico News and Review Editor George Thurlow followed Nielsen's
political career and published a seminal piece on October 25, 1990, days
prior to his last election, when he lost by approximately 7,500 votes.
Current Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa is widely pushing Nielsen in his bid to
replace our termed out assemblyman. At least two of LaMalfa's staff
members are being paid by Nielsen's campaign.
To get a picture of who Jim Nielsen is, one only has to look at his
past.
In 1984 and 1985 Nielsen was dealing with a messy divorce settlement
with his first wife, according to the News and Review. He funneled
$75,000 in campaign money to his second wife, Brenda Wahl, precluding
the money from being used for spousal support or child support. He hired
his second wife as a"campaign consultant" and
"secretary," although it is illegal for a candidate to pay
himself money from campaign funds or reimburse himself for personal
expenses.
Nielsen has since divorced Wahl. His current wife Marilyn is his third.
While in the senate, Nielsen failed to disclose for 12 years the salary
he was being paid by the Roy Riegels pesticide company, according to
Thurlow's article. All the while, Nielsen used his senate stationary and
staff to lobby against a ban on pesticides that his employer, Riegels,
sold.
In a separate debacle, Nielsen lobbied for and voted on a $500,000 state
grant, of which the majority of the money went to a cogeneration plant
in Williams, the News and Review reported. It was later learned that
Nielsen and his wife Wahl had a financial interest in the construction
of the plant and he said he received as much as $600,000 for his
financial interest in the project.
After he was divorced from Wahl, he was sued by a former partner in the
plant for a conflict of interest and double dealing,
Nielsen routinely used his senate staff to conduct campaign work for
him, paying them bonuses while they were on state payroll, Thurlow
wrote.
Of course, Nielsen is currently under the gun for signing under penalty
of perjury that his current residence is in Gerber, when those who where
living in the home told the Pioneer Press that he doesn't reside there.
History repeats itself, as previously in the 1980s, Nielsen claimed that
he lived in his senate district in Rohnert Park, yet he misspelled
Rohnert Park on his voter registration, used a Woodland address on court
documents and newspapers couldn't find neighbors who had ever seen him
in his condo in Rohnert Park.
Nielsen lives in a million dollar mansion in
The publisher grants permission for the article to be reprinted or
distributed.