CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: PROPOSITION 128 : ‘Big Green’ Foes Pull Ads a Day After Suit Is Filed

Opponents of Proposition 128, the far-reaching environmental initiative, pulled their radio ads Friday and said they are preparing new commercials that will identify the chemical industry as the major sponsor of the spots.

The ad cancellation came a day after supporters of the “Big Green” proposition filed a lawsuit charging that the negative radio spots failed to disclose that major chemical firms are the chief backers of the campaign against the initiative.

The hotly contested measure, which will be on the Nov. 6 ballot, is called “the Hayden initiative” by its opponents in an effort to associate it with Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), one of its authors.

In the ads, which have blanketed the state in recent weeks, actors discussed the initiative in sympathetic terms, but then agreed they would vote against it because, “it just tries to do too much.”

“No on 128” campaign manager Richard S. Woodward said in a statement issued late Friday, “We have instructed all radio stations to halt the broadcast of our commercials until they are replaced.”

Duane Peterson, a spokesman for the “Yes on 128” campaign, said: “I guess they looked at the potential fines and decided to yank those ads. Now I believe we will see that the oil and chemical industries are indeed behind the ‘No’ effort.”

Woodward said his committee learned late Thursday that it was violating the state’s new sponsor-disclosure law. He blamed lawyers advising the committee for the mistake.

Scott Macdonald, another “No on 128” spokesman, said opposition leaders have not decided precisely how to identify the chemical industry sponsors. “We’ll be working on that all weekend and hope to be back on the air as soon as possible,” he said.

Under a new state law, ads opposing or supporting ballot measures must identify any industry that contributes $50,000 or more and whose contributions make up at least 25% of all contributions.

Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn, a Proposition 128 backer who filed the suit, said chemical firms had contributed more than $95,000 of the committee’s $328,000 war chest--more than the 25% that triggers the identification.

Hahn, noting that the law permits a court to award damages three times the amount spent on ads that fail to identify sponsors, said he hopes the suit eventually will win $1.8 million for the city’s treasury.