HUNTINGTON BEACH : ‘Hit-Piece’ Measure Is Closer to Approval

The City Council has given preliminary approval to a new ordinance aimed at curbing political mailers often called “hit pieces.”

The council on Monday night voted 5 to 2 in favor of introducing Mayor Peter M. Green’s proposal.If the ordinance receives at least four affirmative votes on its second reading at the next meeting, it will become city law, effective in June.

In some previous elections, notably the City Council races of 1988, last-minute campaign mailers targeted some candidates with various accusations. The candidates said they were smeared by the 1988 mailers sent out in the days just before the election and had no time to issue rebuttals.

The measure would require those distributing material during the last two weeks of a campaign to file a copy with the city clerk’s office “within two hours of first distribution.”

Green said the required filing would “offer the candidate attacked an opportunity to accurately represent his/her position on issues.”

The proposed ordinance is modeled after one that was passed in Newport Beach last year.

Huntington Beach City Atty. Gail C. Hutton, in a legal opinion to the council, said the Newport Beach ordinance effectively counteracted hit-piece literature in that city’s election last November.