Leary gets huge cash contribution from William Niemi, aka, 'The Puppeteer'

Leary takes $6,000 from developer Niemi who has a special interest is seeing three pro-developer city council members reelected

Mike Leary has received $6,000 from Granite Bay real estate developer William Nieme, who has become one of the biggest patrons of Elk Grove city council members. Niemi has contributed $11,00 to three Elk Grove city council members seeking reelection so far this year.

Niemi, a former executive with bankrupt home builder Dunmore Homes, has also contributed $2,500 Leary's fellow city council members and incumbents Jim Cooper and Sophia Scherman.

Coincidentally, one of Dunmore's abandoned Elk Grove projects, Monterey Village, had foreclosure proceedings started on it recently. Monterrey Village is quickly becoming Elk Grove's garbage dump site of choice (see photos below and slide show on left column).

As reported by this organization several weeks ago (Patron Profile: William Niemi the puppeteer), Nieme is suing local builder Reynen & Bardis over 1,000 acres just outside Elk Grove city limits. As we noted:

In yet another story from the Sacramento Business Journal, Niemi is suing builder Reynen & Bardis. According to the story, it is believed when Niemi left Dunmore in 2005, he received deferred compensation in the form of 1,000 acres just south of Elk Grove near Kammerer Road.

Subsequent to Niemi's departure from Dunmore, the property was acquired by Reynen & Bardis. The land in question is in the city's urban expansion area.

So what could Niemi's motivation be to throw several thousand dollars Leary, Cooper and Scherman's way?

Judging by the manner in which Dunmore Homes left Monterrey Village, can we trust former Dunmore executive William Nieme to be any more responsible? Can we afford to let Cooper, Leary and Scherman go unchallenged?