Fact Check: Doug Otto for Mayor

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UPDATED Mar. 31, 5:35 p.m.: In response to our Fact Check below, Mr. Otto emails: "In 2008 I took charge of the Measure E Bond Campaign for the Board of Trustees and worked 10-15 hours/week to achieve its passage. I worked closely with those we hired to help run the campaign including the consultants. We developed and implemented a campaign strategy that was ultimately very successful as measured by the percentage of voters who voted in favor of Measure E."

Otto mailer says

LBREPORT.com says

"...He helped bring over $441 million to LBCC for improvement and modernization of both campuses." [Source: Otto for Mayor mailer]

The $441 million is from a debt bond that voters passed in Feb. 2008, and property owners now pay as part of their property tax bills (the latest of which is due for payment by April 10.)

LBCC Trustee Otto, along with Trustee/now 7th dist. Council candidate Roberto Uranga, was present at the Nov. 7, 2007 special Board of Trustees meeting called to put the measure on the ballot. Trustees Otto, Uranga, Kellogg, Clark and Bowen all voted to put the measure on the ballot. The minutes of the meeting indicate what the Trustees said in putting the measure on the ballot. To view the minutes, click here.

Also noted by LBREPORT.com: another now-Mayoral candidate, Robert Garcia was then an LBCC staffer and was given a leave of absence and paid by a pro-ballot measure Committee to run the campaign for the property tax debt bond. The ballot text told voters:

To qualify for State matching funds that will better prepare Long Beach college students for highdemand jobs, shall Long Beach Community College District renovate science, nursing, police, and firefighting classrooms, upgrade classroom technology and high-tech training labs; repair aging roofs, electrical, plumbing, heating, and ventilation; and upgrade/construct/equip/acquire classrooms, facilities, sites; by issuing $440 million in bonds, at legal rates, with citizen oversight, mandatory audits, and all funds staying local to improve Long Beach City College facilities?

The measure required 55% voter approval for passage; no one submitted a voter pamphlet argument in opposition; the measure passed with roughly 73% voter approval.

LBREPORT.com's Fact Check is a work in progress. With the tsunami of mail that has arrived from some candidates (some more than others), we analyze and comment on some of the more conspicuous claims we've seen. We can't possibly examine everything, and some candidates send more mail and say more noteworthy things than others. We're starting with mail from Mayoral candidates but we hope to expand to others. We invite you to help us by providing examples of campaign materials you believe deserve merit fact check attention. Scan or attach the material, cite what you believe deserves attention and why, and email them to us at mail@LBReport.com or via our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lbreport.