‘Hail Mary’ money from Tsakopoulos couldn’t save Leary

How was money used?

Desperate times calls for desperate actions, or so it would seem as election day rolled around for Elk Grove city council member Mike Leary.

In financial disclosures forms filed with the Elk Grove city clerk late in the afternoon on election day, it was revealed that real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos gave a last minute contribution to Leary’s reelection bid of $5,000. Leary also received a last-minute donation from Sharif’s Jewelers of Sacramento of $1,000.

It will be interesting to see how this last minute money will be accounted for by Leary on his next disclosure report due somewhere around the end of the year.

Aside from the obvious influence Tsakopoulos was trying to peddle on Leary and the City of Elk Grove, how would have this money been used to influence a campaign that for all purposes was already over?

Maybe the $6,000 was used to pay for the hired hands waving Leary signs on election days.