Tax money underwrites appeals to voters

Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District mailed voters what officials described as a “fact sheet” on Measure Q, a $7-billion construction bond on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Although it did not explicitly tell recipients how to vote, the taxpayer-funded document dropped some major hints, using such headlines as “Measure Q Improves School Safety,” “Measure Q Improves the Learning Environment” and “Measure Q is Fiscally Accountable.”

The district went further, writing a six-paragraph script about Measure Q for principals to read in “phone blasts” to parents. And it purchased $21,000 worth of hats and T-shirts, each saying “Measure Q,” distributing them on school campuses.

Although government agencies are barred from using public money to pay for campaign activities, a 2005 court ruling states that they can distribute information on ballot measures -- as long as the contents don’t include “express advocacy,” such as an explicit instruction on how to vote.

A Times survey found that the Los Angeles school district is one of at least eight agencies in Southern California using taxpayer money to stage outreach campaigns about measures that would benefit them. The practice, at times highly sophisticated, is drawing complaints from taxpayer advocates and “clean government” groups, who say public agencies are improperly using public funds to extract more money from voters.

In the run-up to this year’s election, the city of Lynwood posted a five-minute video on its website discussing Measure II, a proposal to retain a local utility users tax. Pico Rivera city officials plan to send six mailers about Measure P, a 1-cent sales tax hike to balance that city’s budget.

The practice has even produced internal dissent at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which spent $1.1 million on brochures, newspaper ads and radio spots on Measure R, the half-cent sales tax hike for transportation.

L.A. Unified has taken the concept to its limit, waging a $1-million outreach campaign that includes three mailers sent to 450,000 likely voters. Two of the three stop just short of an endorsement. “This November 4th, remember to vote on Measure Q,” reads a piece hitting mailboxes this week.

Experts say the last L.A. Unified mailer crosses a legal line, resembling the campaign brochures typically sent by political committees and paid for by private contributors. “This piece clearly takes a position,” said Kathay Feng, executive director of the political reform group California Common Cause. “It is not just a quote-unquote educational piece.”

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick went further, calling the mailer “a complete bending and stretching of the rules.”

“This is why people don’t trust their government,” said Chick, who opposes the bond measure.

Foes of Measure Q said the taxpayer-funded mailers should have mentioned that this is the district’s fifth bond measure in 11 years and that the four prior bonds will eventually cost homeowners $185 per year for each $100,000 that their homes are assessed.

School district officials have a different view, saying their mailings provide indisputable facts about Measure Q, including the monthly cost. They argue that their election strategy provides information, not advocacy, and complies with the law.

“You can quibble about what it is that you ought to put in” a mailer, said Michael Strumwasser, a lawyer for the district. “I don’t understand that as a matter of law, you are obligated to tell them how many bonds you have had.”

The trend has sparked a debate over what is, and is not, political advocacy by a public agency. Strumwasser, for example, argued that the Measure Q caps and shirts are designed to increase voter turnout and should not be interpreted as taking an explicit yes or no position on the bond.

By mid-October, L.A. Unified had spent more money discussing Measure Q than the Coalition for Safe and Healthy Neighborhood Schools, the official committee that is using private contributions to campaign for the bond measure. The coalition had raised $704,800 and spent $426,373 as of Oct. 18, according to reports.

Ballot measure committees typically thrive on repetition, using mailers and phone calls to remind voters of an issue on a crowded ballot. Now, L.A. Unified is providing much of that repetition, albeit at taxpayer expense.

But although such practices can provide a winning formula on election day, they can also produce a political backlash.

Three years ago, the Ventura County district attorney produced a 38-page report on efforts by the Ventura County Transportation Commission to pass the half-cent sales tax known as Measure B. Although the report concluded that no criminal prosecutions were necessary, it described the agency’s use of public funds -- including $273,000 for postcards and voter opinion polls -- as improper.

Earlier this year, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are “pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure.” The FPPC is weighing a new rule that would define any public money used to communicate about a ballot measure as a political expenditure, unless it provides a fair and impartial presentation of facts.

Taxpayer advocates have lodged their own protests, saying public dollars are being used improperly to effectively secure more taxpayer dollars. “The brochures are so decidedly one-sided that they cannot be judged as objective,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

This year, the campaign outreach ranges from modest to ambitious. In the Pasadena Unified School District, officials spent $600 on brochures that are being distributed in person regarding their $350-million school repair bond.

In Long Beach Unified, school officials spent $46,000 on a mailer that discusses Measure K, a $1.2-billion bond measure to pay for classroom repairs. That mailer went to 80,000 likely voters, according to district spokesman Chris Eftychiou.

Lynwood city officials have sent three mailers on Measure II and have at least two more on the way, calling such efforts “public education and outreach.” “It’s allowed by state law. In fact, I think it’s encouraged,” said Assistant City Manager Robert Torrez.

Lynwood’s website contains a five-minute video of Mayor Maria Santillan discussing Measure II, which would lower the utility tax rate from 10% to 9%. Meanwhile, Pico Rivera’s website features five taxpayer-funded mailers on Measure P, the proposed 1-cent sales tax hike.

The mailers, which also went to voters, contain a series of warnings about the consequences of a defeat of Measure P. Headlines include “Road Repairs at Risk” and “Pico Rivera Faces a Fiscal Crisis That Threatens Vital Law Enforcement and Public Safety Services.” Because the mailers were prepared by city employees, the total cost will not exceed $35,000, said Bob Spencer, Pico Rivera’s public information officer.

“A handful of people have called us and expressed surprise that we’re spending the money,” he said. “But it gives us an opportunity to explain what the alternative is, which is the loss of almost $5 million from the city budget.”

A much more contentious fight over taxpayer-funded campaign brochures has been waged over Measure R, the MTA’s half-cent sales tax hike. County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Michael Antonovich, both MTA board members, challenged the decision to spend $4.1 million on a campaign to discuss Measure R, saying the agency was abusing the rules that allow for such communications.

Although the MTA responded by canceling the remaining $3 million of its publicity program, the agency had already mailed 4 million 16-page brochures on Measure R. A complaint was filed with the FPPC, which closed its investigation without taking action.

Now, every entry posted on the agency’s website about Measure R has been reviewed by lawyers, said MTA spokesman Marc Littman.

“Every word, every comma has been vetted,” he said.

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david.zahniser@latimes.com

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Taxing campaigns

Critics complain that some public agencies in Los Angeles County are using tax money to promote self-serving measures on the Nov. 4 ballot:

Metropolitan

Transportation Authority

Measure R

$30-billion to $40-billion sales tax for roads and transit

$1.1 million for mailer, radio and newspaper ads

Los Angeles

Unified School District

Measure Q

$7 billion construction bond

$1 million for mailers, T-shirts, hats, polling, staff time

Long Beach

Unified School District

Measure K

$1.2-billion construction bond

$46,000 for mailers

Pasadena

Unified School District

Measure TT

$350-million construction bond

$600 for fliers distributed by hand

Torrance

Unified School District

Measure Y

$265-million renovations bond

Measure Z

$90-million special facilities bond

$28,733 for mailers

City of Lynwood

Measure II

$6.1-million utility tax

$14,000 for mailers*

City of Pico Rivera

Measure P

$6-million sales tax

$35,000 for mailers

City of El Monte

Measure GG

$4.4-million sales tax

$23,000 for mailers

* Does not include two to three remaining mailers

Source: Times reporting