INVESTIGATIONS |
By Royal Calkins
The state Fair Political Practices Commission has agreed to investigate a complaint that Salinas City Councilwoman Margaret D’Arrigo failed to make a timely report of a $500,000 loan from businessman David Drew as required by conflict-of-interest laws.
D’Arrigo said she had been advised by others that she did not need to report the real estate bridge loan on her annual statement of economic interests because it involved financing for the purchase of her home. She said she had been a friend of Drew’s since high school and proudly watched his rise from inmate to successful businessman.
The FPPC complaint was filed by Brian Baughn, a Salinas resident who regularly files FPPC complaints and who has frequently criticized various public officials for helping Drew receive a pardon in 2018 from then-Gov. Jerry Brown. He had served a prison sentence after being convicted of drug trafficking charges in the 1980s but he was pardoned with the support of numerous businesspeople and political figures in the Salinas area.
In a bit of a twist, Baughn’s aunt, former Superior Court Judge Kay Kingsley, made a ruling in Drew’s favor that helped bring about the pardon. Kingsley issued a rare certificate of rehabilitation that said Drew “has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character and conducted himself as a law-abiding citizen” since his release from prison.
Among those lobbying the governor in Drew’s favor were the late Joe Gunter, who is a former Salinas mayor and homicide detective, along with current Mayor Dennis Donohue, retired sheriff Mike Kanalakis and retired judge and county supervisor John Phillips. Drew has been a frequent contributor to Phillips’ Rancho Cielo training facility for at-risk youth and to Donohue’s political campaigns.
In his complaint to the state, Baughn accused D’Arrigo of “potential bribery” and having an “undisclosed financial relationship with Drew” as well as failing to report the loan on the annual statements of economic interests that council members are required to file with the state.
Baughn also says in the complaint that he will be a candidate for county supervisor in 2028.
In addition to filing FPPC complaints, Baughn regularly makes verbal and written comments to the Salinas City Council and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, often criticizing members of those bodies for what he considers decisions tainted by politics and connections. He helped run a winning campaign and then a losing campaign when his then-stepfather Scott Miller ran for county sheriff. While Miller was in office, the Sheriff’s Department investigated Drew over allegations of money laundering, but nothing came of it.
In social media posts, Baughn also regularly criticizes the Monterey County media for ignoring political corruption. For the most part, local news outlets avoid taking his calls because of his argumentiveness.
About Baughn, D’Arrigo told Voices, “He’s just a disrupter. He creates chaos and a lot of drama that we don’t need.”
Baughn mentioned in his complaint that D’Arrigo serves on a City Council oversight committee with jurisdiction over the California Rodeo, which, he says, pays Drew’s concert promotion company $510,000 annually for management and concert promotion activities at the city rodeo and sports complex. Baughn alleges that her rodeo role creates a conflict of interest.
Drew also owns the Growers Pub and Fox Theater in downtown Salinas, and a sizable trucking company.
Baughn said D’Arrigo used the loan to buy a house from a business partner of Drew’s.
The Fair Political Practices Commission generally takes months to decide whether to formally investigate such complaints. That’s largely because the state Legislature, which is subject to its scrutiny, has kept the agency chronically understaffed. A few years ago it temporarily stopped bringing charges that would result in significant fines for violations, but it has since started taking its enforcement role more seriously.
Baughn initially filed his complaint in late 2024, alleging that D’Arrigo had also failed to report the loan on statements pertaining to her time as a Hartnell College trustee.
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