Long Beach Campaign Mailer : Critics Don’t Appreciate Kell ‘Awards’ to Voters

About 70,000 city voters received a “Certificate of Appreciation” from Mayor Ernie Kell last week.

Even Councilwoman Jan Hall, one of his opponents in the April 12 mayoral election, got one. “The Hall Family,” the blue-and-white certificate with the city seal said, was being recognized for its “outstanding record of participating in our democracy by voting in elections. . . . Thank you for voting, Ernie Kell.”

But Hall isn’t appreciative.

“It’s an abuse of the city seal. It looks very official,” Hall complained.

Kell said the certificate and letter were paid for with campaign funds, not city money. And neither the certificate nor the accompanying letter, which also bears the city seal and says it is from the “Office of the Mayor, Long Beach, Ca.,” breaks any laws, according to the city attorney and the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Appointed by Council

“There is no law that prohibits the use of a facsimile of the city seal by any of the officers,” City Atty. John Calhoun said. Kell, as the council-appointed mayor, is an officer.

Nevertheless, some other Kell opponents also said they were displeased.

“This is very, very autocratic,” said candidate Luanne Pryor, who called Kell “the emperor and his new clothes.”

“There he is, taking a stance from City Hall where he is speaking to his subjects and he is handing out certificates,” Pryor said. “He is the mayor, but he is the council-appointed mayor. He’s really using the office. He’s milking it for everything it’s worth.”

Saying ‘Thank You’

Kell responded: “It’s just my way of saying ‘thank you’ to people who participate in the democratic process.”

The mailers conform with all laws and is part of a “positive campaign,” said Rose King, Kell’s campaign manager.

“It’s not all that often that voters get something in the midst of a tough campaign that acknowledges their civic responsibility and congratulates them for voting, so we do think it’s effective,” King said. “We think it’s more effective than negative campaigning.”

King was referring to a recent mailer in which Hall accused Kell of cronyism in appointments to city boards and commissions. Kell immediately replied that Hall’s charge was untrue.

Noting that the official-looking certificate did not include a disclaimer that it came from Kell himself and not the city, Hall said: “It’s kind of ironic that someone who says I sent something misleading sends out something very misleading.”

Included Disclaimer

Kell was not required, however, to place a disclaimer on the certificate as long as the envelope included one, said Sandy Michioku, a spokeswoman with the Fair Political Practices Commission in Sacramento. Kell’s campaign manager noted that both the envelope and the letter accompanying the certificate included a disclaimer: “Not printed or mailed at public expense. Paid for by Friends of Ernie Kell.”

Hall had a campaign mailer of her own sent out last week. It was a letter from Gov. Deukmejian that included a facsimile of the state’s seal. “On Tuesday, April 12, join Gloria and me in casting a solid vote for Jan Hall and Long Beach’s future,” the governor wrote.

Hall said the difference between the two mailers is that the governor’s letter made it clear from whom it came, whereas Kell’s letter misleads voters to think City Hall is handing them a certificate. “The letter we sent out clearly stated, ‘Not paid at public expense,’ and the certificate does not,” she said.