Slow-Growth Backers Say Flyer Misleads Public : Santa Clarita: The city attorney disagrees that its cover implies a government source.

Proponents of a Santa Clarita slow-growth measure said Monday that a campaign flyer distributed by opponents of the measure is deliberately misleading, contending it uses a logo that makes it appear to have been printed by the city government.

But Santa Clarita City Atty. Carl Newton, saying the logo bears no resemblance to the official municipal letterhead, refused to ask the group that printed the flyer to stop circulating it. About 15,000 copies have already been distributed.

The dispute over the flyer comes as the contest begins in earnest over Measure A, which would allow construction of only 475 new housing units in the city annually through 2002 if it is approved by the voters in the election April 14. In addition to distributing campaign literature, both sides have launched radio ad campaigns and vigorously debated the merits of the measure during the past two weeks.

The City Council has not taken an official position, but four of five council members have said they oppose it.

The flyer was paid for by Santa Clarita Citizens for Managed Growth, which hired political consultant Lynn Wessell to help prepare it, said Renee Ramsey, the group’s campaign manager. The phrase “The City of Santa Clarita,” appears in small type on the front of the pamphlet, under the words “Very important questions demand thoughtful answers” and “Growth Management Fact Sheet.” In contrast, Santa Clarita’s official letterhead is not preceded by the word “The” and uses a different typeface, city officials said.

“It’s a deliberate attempt to fool people, first into reading the flyer because they think it’s from the city, and then into thinking it’s the city’s official position,” said John Drew, president of CARRING--Citizens Assn. for a Responsible Residential Initiative on Growth. CARRING wrote Measure A.

But Ramsey said the logo was used only to identify the location of the April 14 election. The back of the flyer identifies the opposition group as its source.

“We put it on there because we wanted to people to know that it dealt with the city of Santa Clarita and not the valley,” Ramsey said. “I can’t imagine anyone would mistake it” for an endorsement or an official city publication, he said.

Newton agreed. “Only those with a political bias would be misled,” he said. “Objectively, it is unlikely anyone would be deceived.”

But slow-growth proponents said city officials refuse to ask the group to stop circulating the flyer because most of the council members oppose Measure A.