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Chevron looms large over the city of Richmond, both literally and figuratively. Hundreds of acres of the city’s hilltops and waterfront are occupied by the Bay Area’s largest refinery. You might think that being home to the refinery, the Bay Area’s worst polluter, would have an upside in terms of jobs and tax revenues. But you’d be dead wrong. For years, Chevron has resisted every effort by the city to collect more tax revenues from the world’s second-most profitable corporation. This isn’t really news. Last month, Forbes reported that the 25 biggest companies pay less in taxes than most citizens.

Chevron's Richmond Refiner

This afternoon, I got a phone call from a pollster (first ever on my mobile) saying that he was polling Richmond voters, and that the information “would be used for research.” When I asked who was paying for the survey, he conceded, “I believe it’s Chevron.” I agreed to continue, because I thought it might be a chance to let the company brass know where I stand: i.e. that they should stop trying to weasel out of justly compensating the city, re-focus their efforts on pollution control, and abandon the folly of the plant expansion to process dirty tar sands from Canada.

As the poll got started, I was asked how favorably I viewed various entities, including some of our local utilities: PG&E, EBMUD, Chevron, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond City Council, etc. Then he caller asked about some ballot measures having to do with utility taxes: “Would I support a measure to cap natural gas taxes on the largest customers at $20 million, and provide all sorts of breaks on seniors and low-income families, etc.” Hmm… lower taxes on little old ladies, who could argue with that? I almost forgot about the large customer thing. How many “large customers” are there in the city. One. And it turns out they’ve been under-paying for years.

When the caller said, “Let me read you some more information about the ballot measure, and then ask your opinion,” I realized that this was a push poll, and they were trying to manipulate and misinform me.

This is nothing new. If you read back on the history of Richmond’s history of trying to collect more taxes from Chevron, you’ll find a history of deliberate obfuscation. According to this wikipedia article, Chevron responded to a 2006  ballot initiative to raise taxes on the refinery with “a massive flyer campaign, suggesting it would lead to evictions of seniors and closing of small businesses.” Since moving to Richmond, I have gotten a handful of glossy, colorful brochures in the mail explaining how committed Chevron is to the community. How much do they really contribute? According to the research brief, “Richmond’s Tax Revenue from Chevron” written by my colleague Eli Moore at the Pacific Institute:

Like many large corporations, Chevron contributes to the community not only through taxes and fees, but also through charitable donations. Chevron reported giving $1.25 million in charitable donations to service providers in Richmond and Contra Costa County during 20062 and $1.02 million in 2007.3 During this two-year period when the company’s charitable donations averaged $1.1 million, it took action to reduce its annual contributions to city revenue by an estimated $9.4 million.4 This shows Chevron’s charitable donations are minimal when compared with how much tax, and ultimately public revenue, Chevron has withdrawn and continues to work to evade.

My message to Chevron: these tactics are sneaky, disingenuous, and unethical. The issue of taxes to a large multi-national corporation are totally unrelated to taxes on residents. Stop trying to muddy the waters and confuse voters. Instead of spending money to manipulate and misinform the public, step up and do what’s right.

As a prologue to this incident, I called the mayor’s office to ask if they were aware of the poll and if Mayor McLaughlin had plans to issue a statement, and I was told that they had already received a number of complaints about the polls, but that it wasn’t clear what response there would be, if any.

I also called the refinery, and the operator said, “Oh, you mean the poll from the city?” before transferring me to public affairs’ voice mail. Is Chevron deliberately trying to trick people into believing that the poll is being conducted by the city?