Chamber Says Developer’s Ad Misleads Public

A newspaper advertisement endorsing the Cypress City Council’s approval of a controversial development was paid for by the developer and not the city Chamber of Commerce, according to chamber President Gregory J. Poyner.

The full-page ad, published Oct. 23 in a community weekly, says: “The Cypress Chamber of Commerce congratulates the Cypress City Council for its approval” of a 169-acre project proposed by Hollywood Park Realty Inc.

The project was approved by the council Oct. 14 on a 3-2 vote.

The chamber’s name and address appear at the bottom of the ad, and Hollywood Park is never mentioned.

The council’s decision has been criticized by residents, mainly golfers, who are protesting closure of Los Alamitos Golf Course to make way for an industrial park. One group is collecting signatures in an attempt to force a special election on the project.

“I don’t like how we have been used,” Poyner said. “The issue is that it looks like we ran the ad.”

Hollywood Park General Manager Don Robbins said company officials secured permission from chamber Executive Director Ned Fox to use a press release the chamber had issued to voice its support of the development. Robbins said the ad merely reiterates what the chamber has already said in public.

“We felt it was appropriate that (the press release) get exposure,” Robbins said, adding that the ad is “nothing more than a condensation” of a three-page press release.