Sophia Scherman - Real Republican or RINO?

Is Scherman actually a low income housing advocate?


Elk Grove city council member Sophia Scherman has long been associated with the Republican party. It seems every time Gov. Schwarzenegger comes to town for an education-oriented photo op, you can count on seeing Scherman there.

As a party loyalist, that is one of the perks of the job - you get access to political figures to help your own needs. This is how it works and as a party loyalist, Scherman deserves this.

But how much of a Republican is Scherman? By one measure, who she accepts money from, you could argue that she is really a RINO - Republican In Name Only.

A review of who Scherman's most generous patons are is quite revealing. One of her biggest patrons this time around is attorney Paul Sabelhaus. His name is probably not that familiar in Republican circles, but undoubtedly he must be well known in Democrat circles.

According to Campaignmoney.com, Sabelhaus has been a large patron of Democrat Presidential candidates John Edwards and Barrack Obama. Since last year, Sabelhaus donated $1,000 to Edwards and $2,300 to Obama.

Sabelhaus also donated a hefty $5,000 to the Democrat party's "Orange County Victory Fund." Hedging his bets, sort of, Sabelhaus also donated $500 to Republican Devin Nunes.

In 2004, Sabelhaus donated $4,000 to John Kerry and $1,000 to Barbara Boxer. He made no donations to any national Republican race.

So why would the supposedly devout Republican Sophia Scherman accept $2,500 from a person who is so closely aligned with the Democrat party? Conversely, why would Democrat Sabelhaus endow Republican Scherman with $2,500?

As with most things in local politics, it seems to have its roots in real estate development.

Upon further investigation, Sabelhaus is a director of the C.C.A.H - California Coalition for Affordable Housing. Sabelhaus shares a directorship with another Scherman patron, Cyrus Youssefi of C.F.Y. Development. C.F.Y. has also donated $2,500 to Scherman. (Sabelhaus and Youssefi also work out of the same building in Downtown Sacramento.)

While quality low income housing should be part of every community, it would seem unusual for someone of Scherman's political inclination to take money from affordable housing advocates and Democrat supporters. Is Scherman really supportive of low income housing or more interested in filling her campaign war chest with money.

Is Scherman willing to take a big donation from anybody regardless of the donors political affiliation? If it were not for the cold hard cash, would she even consider low income housing?

Intuition tells us that Sabelhaus and Youssefi wouldn't be giving money to Scherman unless they expected some payoff. So as usual, it looks as these real estate patrons are looking for quid pro quo from Scherman and she will probably deliver the goods.

So much for party loyalty.