Carson Publication on Hold : Newsletter Coverage of Incumbents Barred

In a decision affecting Carson politics, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has banned the depiction of incumbents seeking reelection in city newsletters published just before an election.

The March issue of Carson’s official newsletter--which cost the city $7,000 and went to each of the city’s 28,000 households--displayed a prominent front-page picture of Mayor Kay Calas, Councilwoman Vera Robles DeWitt and Councilman Michael Mitoma, among others, at a ground breaking for the city’s long-planned Veterans Park. In addition, small pictures of the three and Carson’s other elected officials appeared on the back page of the newsletter.

Calas, Mitoma and DeWitt are seeking reelection Tuesday.

April Issue on Hold

Deputy City Administrator Bill McKown, who is in charge of putting out the newsletter, said he believes that the chance of any enforcement action is remote because the newsletter came out before the commission’s ban takes effect.

McKown said, however, that city officials are withholding publication of the April issue--which features the incumbents and other officials in a front-page photograph at Carson’s 20th-anniversary ball--until after the election.

“There is a legitimate question and there is no sense in taking any chance that (the commission) would make a finding that it is inappropriate,” he said.

Aaron Carter, a council candidate who had criticized the March newsletter as “self-serving,” hailed the commission’s action. “The voters will be aware that, though (the incumbents) may have escaped sanctions by the FPPC, it was not the right thing to do. It was a highly political thing to do,” he said.

The commission’s action also vindicates City Atty. Glenn Watson, who warned council members Nov. 16 that a new state law would mean the city should either skip publication of the February and March issues of the newsletter or eliminate any pictures and references to incumbents. Last week, the city attorney had complained in an interview that city officials second-guessed him.

This week, Watson said he wasn’t surprised that the commission, which serves as a watchdog against election abuses and conflicts of interest, had taken the action. “I predicted they would,” he said.

The law bans publicly funded mass mailings, sent out within 90 days of an election, that are made on behalf of local officials seeking reelection. Intended to prevent local incumbents from reaping unfair political advantage, the statute is an amendment to a law that had affected only state officials. Violations are misdemeanors, with a possible fine as high as $10,000.

Pictures Banned

The law took effect Jan. 1, but the commission did not adopt regulations spelling out the limits on mass mailings until Tuesday. In particular, the agency banned the use of incumbents’ pictures, according to commission spokeswoman Sandra Michioku.

In addition to banning pictures of incumbents seeking reelection, the regulation also prohibits them from being consulted in any way on the preparation of the mailing.

McKown has said that council members made suggestions on articles to include in the newsletter in conversations and on the floor at council meetings. He said he did not remember which council member suggested the article on Veterans Park.

In any event, the choice of the pictures for the newsletter is made by a contractor who prepares the publication, he said, and neither he nor council members had anything to do with picking the Veterans Park picture.

The commission’s regulations have been in the works for months and apparently were not prompted by the controversy in Carson. But the newsletter is the subject of a recent complaint to the agency that was brought by council candidates Gaddis Farmer and Leon Cornell.

In addition to the March issue, they have complained about the February issue, in which Mitoma and DeWitt appear on the front page, along with other officials, in a group picture honoring the city’s 10 top sales-tax producers.

McKown said, however, that the February issue of the newsletter came out before Mitoma and DeWitt filed for reelection on Feb. 4.

Michioku said the agency is investigating the complaint. She was not able to say whether the fact that the Carson newsletter was published before the commission adopted regulations would remove any possibility of sanctions.

The regulation will officially take effect 30 days after the state Office of Administrative Law files it with the secretary of state. Michioku said she was unable to say when that would be.