CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: THE AD CAMPAIGN

The race: Governor. Whose ad? Republican Pete Wilson.

Republican Sen. Pete Wilson is airing a new 30-second television commercial that attacks the taxing policies of Democrat Dianne Feinstein during her tenure as mayor of San Francisco. The ad also promotes Wilson’s record as mayor of San Diego.

Elements of the ad, with analysis by Times political writer Bill Stall:

Ad: The commercial opens with side-by-side photos of Wilson and Feinstein, noting the years they served as mayors of their cities: Wilson in San Diego 1971-82 and Feinstein in San Francisco 1978-88. Then portions of their tax records appear beneath their respective photos: “Wilson cut property tax rates 25% and balanced 11 budgets.” “Feinstein raised taxes 34%, but left a $172 million deficit.”

Analysis: Data provided by the Wilson campaign says the city property tax rate was $1.81 per $100 of assessed valuation in 1972, dropping to $1.36 per $100 by 1978 when Proposition 13 set all property taxes in California at the same rate, effectively at $1 per $100 of assessed valuation. By the time Feinstein became mayor, she had no control over property tax rates. In San Francisco, the annual per capita tax burden grew from $429 to $576, a 34% rise, according to the state controller’s office. All of Wilson’s and Feinstein’s budgets technically were balanced because cities, like the state, are prohibited by law from running deficits. Feinstein’s final budget projected a $16.2 million surplus, but the incoming administration of Mayor Art Agnos claimed that in fact the city faced a deficit of $172 million.

Ad: “San Diego’s taxes were among the lowest in the state.” “Under Feinstein, taxes went up 50% faster than the state average.”

Analysis: It can be argued that the ad attempts to mix apples and oranges. San Francisco is the only geographic entity in California that is both a city and a county so it serves many more functions than other cities. Also, San Diego’s population was growing much more rapidly than San Francisco’s, so the relative cost of San Francisco city services rose more quickly. San Diego adopted a hotel room tax while Wilson was mayor. Feinstein opposed some tax increases that were adopted.

Ad: The ad quotes the late Howard Jarvis, the author of Proposition 13 in 1978, as saying, “We wouldn’t have needed Proposition 13 if everyone had run their cities like Pete Wilson.” And a photo of Feinstein shows on the screen with the comment from San Francisco Controller Sam Yockey that Feinstein “robbed the bank and left us holding the bag.”

Analysis: Both Wilson and Feinstein opposed Proposition 13, as did most public officials. The major problem leading to the Proposition 13 tax revolt was not tax rates, but the escalating property assessments that drove up tax bills. Yockey became controller under Agnos, with whom Feinstein has quarreled bitterly, and who supported Feinstein’s opponent in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.