Company was fined $300,000 after Merced DA lawsuit. It just donated to election opponent

The re-election team for Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II has called into question a "stunningly large" donation taken by his opponent that came from a company that paid a hefty fine after it was sued on behalf of Merced County and others in the region.

Opponent Kimberly Helms Lewis' team said questions about the donation are a sign Morse is "desperate" and "flailing" in an attempt to win his campaign for re-election.

Scott Neal, owner of Neal Partners LLP, and his sister, NorCal Rail Park LLC member Staci Leonardo, each donated $10,000 to the Helm Lewis campaign on May 2, according to a contribution report filed the next day.

Neal and Leonardo didn't explain why they made the donation and didn't ask for anything in return for their donation, according to Lee Neves, campaign manager for Helms Lewis.

"He has a First Amendment right to support any candidate he wants to," Neves said Monday. "He's paid his debt, the fine, and that's that."

Messages to Neal and Leonardo asking about the donations weren't returned this week.

One of Neal’s companies, Central Valley Concrete, was sued by prosecutors in 2010 for operating an illegal paint shop and violating state hazardous waste laws. In his ruling, Judge Ronald W. Hansen ordered the company to pay $300,000 in civil penalties for the violations.

The shop generated hazardous waste in the form of paint chips combined with dust, solvents, soil and/or sandblasting material. Some of the materials were sprayed into the air. Some of the solvent was poured onto the ground, Hansen said in 2010.

The case was handled by a statewide circuit prosecutor for the California District Attorney’s Association, who oversaw the case as a deputy district attorney on behalf of district attorneys’ offices in Merced, Stanislaus and Madera counties.

The $20,000 campaign contribution "appears to be" the largest ever given to a Merced County candidate, according to Mike Lynch, Morse's campaign manager. Given its source, he said, the Helms Lewis campaign should return it.

"It's not illegal for the Neals to make contributions to people, nor is it illegal to take a contribution from the Neals," Lynch said. "The question raised is one of judgment on the part of the candidate. ... What kind of signal does that send?"

Neves pushed back Monday, saying voters care less about who is contributing to Helms Lewis than they do about recent controversies related to Morse.

Three former Merced County prosecutors say Morse made lewd comments to female subordinates dating back several years and inappropriately kissed one of his married employees about five years ago. Morse has said the claims were incidents taken out of context, and denied sexually harassing anybody.

Morse's office also oversaw a case in which his son, Ethan, was questioned last July despite being asked by the California Attorney General’s Office to step aside. The office claims no conflict of interest because the younger Morse was never a suspect.

"I think voters are more concerned about that than whether we got a big donation from someone," he said. "I think it shows that Morse is desperate and he's flailing and he's grasping for anything."

Lynch said any claim of desperation is "nonsense," noting the support Morse has in the county.

"Every law enforcement organization that's made an endorsement has endorsed Larry," he said. "Larry’s endorsed by the farm bureau. Larry’s endorsed by the labor organizations. Larry's endorsed by hundreds of local residents."

"There's no desperation, nor any flailing," he said.

Election Day is June 5.

This story was originally published May 28, 2018 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Company was fined $300,000 after Merced DA lawsuit. It just donated to election opponent."