Several candidates running for local office tell the same story.
At some point during their respective campaigns for Vancouver or Clark County councils, they were approached by a local developer, Asghar Sadri. Each candidate describes meeting him. The topics of discussion included their respective campaigns, backgrounds and projects he was pursuing.
These conversations were then followed with campaign donations from Sadri and his network of companies that, in some cases, totaled several thousand dollars.
Since 2015, Sadri has been a prolific donor to campaigns at the state, local and federal level, giving money to candidates across the political spectrum. In 2016, he gave $2,500 to Vermont’s “democratic socialist” Sen. Bernie Sanders for his 2016 presidential run. Through his companies, he’s directed $5,800 to Republican Clark County Councilor Eileen Quiring, who has championed her opposition to taxes and support for property rights in her bid for council chair.
As the 2018 election has unfolded, Sadri has again opened his checkbook. Candidates who accepted his money will have influence on Sadri’s projects before the county and city. But so far, Sadri has had mixed results getting his way with local governments. And candidates who received his money say he hasn’t (and won’t) get special influence.
“There was no, ‘I want this done, you do this for me,’ ” said Temple Lentz, a Democratic candidate for Clark County Council who accepted $4,000 from Sadri and his companies. “And if he did, the conversation wouldn’t have continued.”
Sadri, who shuns the spotlight, said he’s received no special treatment from the county or Vancouver and has instead complained that his projects have been delayed.
Who is Sadri?
In an interview at the offices of Delta Management, one of his companies, Sadri described himself as a private person who’d rather not have his name in the paper. A spry and affable 81-year-old who wore a sport jacket and corduroy hat, Sadri was coy about his background.
“I’m from Mars; I’m alien,” he said. “I don’t want nobody know who I am. I don’t want to get involved with other people; I mind my own business.”
During the interview, he let slip that he moved to the U.S. in 1963 from Iran as a top lightweight wrestler. He soon married and later settled in Vancouver and got involved with real estate.
Sadri described a long list of charitable activities, with a particular concern for kids, that he’s previously been quiet about. He said he contributed to the construction of Hearthwood Park. But he objected to a plaque honoring him for his contribution being placed in the park. Despite his protest, the plaque is currently on display.
“I don’t give to get publicity, and I believe if you give to somebody and it’s made publicly known to everybody, you didn’t give anything,” he said. “You’re doing it for yourself.”
Larry Smith, a local civic leader and former Vancouver city councilor, said that he only worked with Sadri on a multiyear effort to build the Firstenburg Community Center, which includes a climbing wall bearing the Sadri family name. But he described Sadri and his family as community-oriented, particularly when it comes to projects benefiting kids.
“He’s a community-oriented individual,” said Smith. “He’s made money in this community and he’s certainly the type of individual that gives back.”
Who has benefited?
Campaign finance records show his first donation was $1,000 in 1988 to Democrat John McKibben, a Clark County commissioner who made an unsuccessful bid for the 3rd Congressional District.
Sadri seemingly lost interest in politics until a presidential candidate piqued his enthusiasm. He gave $800 to then-President Barack Obama in 2008. He followed up with a $1,000 donation to former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in 2009 and a $500 donation to Libertarian-leaning GOP Congressman Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign, both for their congressional bids.
But Sadri speaks most fondly of the candidate he supported for president in 2016: Sanders, an independent who made a run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
“I like the guy. The way he writes, the way he talks, seems (to be a) sane guy,” Sadri said. “Maybe he’s lying, I don’t know.”
The same year Sadri gave $2,500 to Sanders, he gave $1,500 to Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, and her Democratic challenger, Jim Moeller. Moeller only got $1,000.
Sadri said competition is important in politics to ensure the best man or woman is elected to represent the community.
But after Sanders lost the Democratic nomination, Sadri turned his focus toward local politics. Since 2016, he’s donated $49,100 to 19 candidates seeking office for Vancouver City Council, Clark County Council, the Legislature and Clark County clerk.
In Washington, individuals are limited to giving $1,000 per election (both primary and general) to candidates for county, city or school board positions. But four companies owned by Sadri have also made donations.
The candidate who’s benefited most from Sadri’s funding is Vancouver City Councilor Alishia Topper. She’s received $7,000 to date from Sadri and his companies. Topper met Sadri back in 2013 through her then-campaign manager, Jim Mains.
“He had a really, really interesting background. An immigrant to our country, he started his company with nothing,” Topper said.
She thinks Sadri gave her more than others because of her competitive 2016 bid for an open state House seat. Topper lost to fellow Democrat Monica Stonier by 5,000 votes.
Despite several former or current candidates for local office stating that Sadri sought a meeting with them, Sadri maintains that they approached him.
Mains, a campaign strategist with High Five Media, also met Sadri after the developer reached out for a meeting.
“Basically he wanted to know more about local politics and how to get more engaged in the community,” Mains said. “From time to time, he’ll contact me and ask who’s a good candidate.”
But the biggest support Sadri offers, Mains said, is space for campaign signs.
Sadri said after receiving inquiries from several candidates about putting signs on vacant land he owns, he drew up a map of his properties and offers that to candidates. Any candidate — regardless of party — can use his land to advertise as long as they promise to treat everyone fairly, Sadri said.
Lentz said that Sadri seemed to be looking for action-oriented leaders willing to listen. Quiring described Sadri as a “nice guy” who does a lot a development.
“He felt like he needed to be friendly,” Quiring said.
‘Bend the rules’
Emails obtained through a public records request show that representatives of Sadri’s companies contacted county councilors and staff to try and resolve regulatory hurdles for his projects. Records show that in some cases, they got what they wanted.
In November of last year, Cody Dickman and Kia Keyvani, employees at Delta Development, a company owned by Sadri, emailed Clark County Council Chair Marc Boldt and Councilor Julie Olson. They wrote to complain about several projects they were trying to qualify for fee waivers, but hadn’t been deemed fully complete by the county Permit Center.
The county was in the process of winding down its controversial fee-waiver program, which waived traffic impact and application fees for nonresidential development in unincorporated areas of Clark County. Representatives of Sadri had a complaint shared by many other developers: They couldn’t get the projects deemed fully complete by the county Permit Center.
The center has long been the subject of complaints of inconsistency and sluggishness. Last spring, a consultant released a report describing its dysfunction, which it blamed, in part, on meddling from the county council. One email from Keyvani states that Boldt would discuss the issue with county staff.
After contacting Boldt and Olson, each project’s permits were deemed fully complete by the Permit Center either later in November or in December, according to information provided by county spokeswoman Joni McAnally. However, none of the projects have qualified for a fee waiver, and Delta Development requested they be put in “hold” status.
Boldt said he’s met with Sadri and has spoken with representatives of his companies about its projects. But Boldt said Sadri has limited sway.
“I wouldn’t say he has any more influence than any other developers,” said Boldt, who has taken a total of $3,000 in campaign contributions from Delta Dealer LLC, Delta Gas Station LLC and Delta Management Co. LLC for his unsuccessful bid for re-election.
Olson hasn’t taken money from Sadri or his companies for her re-election bid. She said in a text that she met with him and other councilors about his request that the county not extend Kerr Road to 65th Street, which the county intended as an arterial to improve traffic flows. Sadri asked that it not be built so he could pursue building a 288-spot RV park and 7,000 square feet of retail space.
In January, the county council removed the extension. Councilor John Blom (who accepted $2,000 from Sadri for his 2016 race for council) said that the road would have cut through Sadri’s land and would have served tenants in the park anyway.
“He owns all the land. Why make him put a road through it?” said Blom, who said he will treat everyone the same whether they donate money or not. “We worked with him like we would with any other developer who has a request.”
Sadri’s companies haven’t always gotten what they wanted. Records also show that in December, Delta Development emailed the full council to dispute findings by county staff that a proposed RV park did not qualify for the county’s fee-waiver program. The project is currently on hold.
In July of this year, Keyvani emailed Boldt and Quiring about qualifying another project for a fee waiver and an exemption on design criteria for two commercial buildings on Northeast 78th Street to not be on a public sidewalk. Emails show that Quiring referred Keyvani to county staff, who advised him of exemption criteria and that the fee waiver was no longer available.
Keyvani again wrote Quiring about getting an exemption and to “bend the rules.” Quiring responded that while she understood his concern, “we won’t ‘bend the rules.’ ”
Sadri and the city
Before the Vancouver City Council, of which all but one member has received money from Sadri, the developer is seeking an amendment to a development agreement put in place in 2009. Sadri argues it’s too restrictive and prevents him from developing the land.
The agreement prohibits businesses like gas stations, self-serve storage and car washes. Sadri had applied for a permit to build a storage facility on the site, which was denied, sparking a review process at his request. That request is before the city council today, where council will consider a compromise proposal to allow drive-thru businesses and self-storage facilities on Sadri’s property.
But again Sadri said his donations haven’t earned him any favor.
He said the city is giving him different rules than any other parcel of land on Mill Plain — a sentiment the council agrees with, but is still hesitant to make changes to the development agreement.
“You know why?” Sadri asked. “(It’s) because I’m an alien from Mars. That’s how I feel.”
