City Mgm't Will (Again) Pay Firm Nearly $100k To (Again) Send "Informational" Mailers To Likely Voters With Content City Says Doesn't Advocate "Yes" Or "No" Vote Re Mayor/Council Sought Ballot Measures; City Will Also Insert Material In City Utility Bills
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(Oct. 2, 2018, 10:30 p.m.) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that city management will spend nearly $100,000 to send what it calls "informational mailers" with "unbiased voter information" that it says doesn't advocate a "yes" or "no" vote and will target 90,391 households on Charter Amendments AAA-DDD, ballot measures sought by Mayor Garcia, supported by City Auditor Doud and put on a special November 6 special election ballot without dissent by the City Council.
City of Long Beach Public Affairs Officer Kevin Lee confirmed the arrangement and added that the City will also put a one page insert into City-operated utility bills with a not-yet-determined printing cost without increasing the postage cost of mailing.
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In an Oct. 2 email in response to an inquiry from LBREPORT.com, City Public Affairs Officer Kevin Lee stated:
The City will be providing unbiased voter information similar to what it has done in the past for measures placed on the ballot by the Long Beach City Council. The City Attorney's Office has reviewed all documents to ensure the material is informational only to describe the practical effects of the proposed charter amendments and does not advocate a yes or no vote on the measures. The City has a contract with EDH & Associates in the amount of $99,430.10 to design, produce and mail the materials to voters, based on the approved Fact Sheets and Frequently Asked Questions posted on the City’s Charter Amendment website. The mailings will reach 90,391 households, with each household receiving two different informational mailers, at a cost of $0.55 per mailer for design, production and postage. Additionally, the City will provide a one page insert into the utility bill. The cost of the utility bill insert printing cost has not yet been determined, but will consist of reproduction costs only and will not require any increase in the cost of postage to include in the utility bill. For more information about the Charter Amendments, please see the below memo or visit www.longbeach.gov/CharterAmendments
During the June 2018 Measure M campaign, city management used the same political consulting firm to send three "informational" mailers to 63,741 households of known voters.
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As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, City Manager Pat West responded to a question from Caroline Byrnes at the Aug. 29 "Beer and Politics" that the City was considering an expenditure of between $50,000 and $100,000 to send informational materials on the four Charter Amendments.
LBREPORT.com is aware of at least one "informational flier" on the four Mayor-proposed Charter Amendments distributed at a late September community meeting conducted by Councilman Daryl Supernaw. LBREPORT.com provides its salient text below accompanied by our opinions/comments.
City flier "informational" text
LBREPORT.com comments
Measure AAA - City Auditor's Authority If passed, this measure will authorize the City Auditor to conduct performance audits of city departments, boards, commissions and offices. Performance audits are defined as independent assessments of programs, functions, operations, or management designed to enhance performance, cost savings, efficiency or service improvements.
The Auditor's office recently completed an Animal Care Services audit that it describes in its own words as a performance audit. The incumbent Auditor hasn't cited a single instance of any LB body preventing her from conducting a performance audit. Including superfluous measure AAA lets the Mayor/Council diverts attention from self-serving Measures BBB (changing "term limits" for themselves) and CCC (an "ethics commission" the Mayor chooses/Council approves and can remove)
Measure BBB - Three-term limit on Mayoral and City Council service If passed, this measure will provide that no person may serve during his/her lifetime more than three terms as Mayor and more than three terms as City Councilmember. The proposed measure would further prohibit any candidate for the office of Mayor who has served three terms or City Councilmember who has served three terms from running as a write-in candidate.
Omits that BBB would replace LB's current law providing a two-term limit with subsequent write-in (allowing voter choice for a strongly desired incumbent.) The measure is self-serving for the current incumbents in allowing themselves third terms without meeting the current third term write-in requirement.
Measure CCC - Ethics Commission If passed, this measure will establish a seven-member City Ethics Commission to impartially administer and implement the provisions of the City Charter, statutes and ordinances concerning campaign finance, lobbying, conflicts of interest and governmental ethics. Enforcement of ethics laws would continue to be carried out by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, the Attorney General, District Attorney, City Attorney and City Prosecutor, as appropriate.
Omits that the measure lets the Mayor and City Auditor choose a majority of the "Ethics Commission" after which the Mayor with 2/3 Council approval can remove any Ethics Commission members for any reason (letting foxes choose the hens and guard the hen house.)
Measure DDD - Citizen Redistricting Commission If passed, this measure would establish the Long Beach Independent Redistricting Commission with sole authority for establishing Council districts following the U.S. decennial census, or more frequently if necessary. The City Charter currently grants the City Council the authority to establish or change Council district boundaries.
In our view, this measure has the greatest substantive appeal. However members of this new, powerful body would first be vetted by a "screening panel" comprised of the Ethics Commission (see above, if Measure CCC passes) or if Measure CCC doesn't pass, chosen by the Mayor from a pool recruited by the Mayor.
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As previously reported (first again) by LBREPORT.com, city management agree to spend roughly the same nearly $100,000 sum to hire the same firm to send three "informational mailers" to likely voters regarding City Hall's June 2016 Measure M (utility revenue transfer/diversion.)
As also previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the City Clerk estimated the base cost of a special November citywide election is $470,000 for the first measure with an incremental a cost of $45,000 for each additional measure. On the afternoon of August 7, the Council voted 9-0 to put four Mayor/Auditor sought measures on a special November citywide election ballot. A few hours later, the Council chose to put a separate petition-signature initiated measure on the same Nov. 6 ballot (for hotel safety/workplace-related ordinance sought by a union seeking to organize hotel workers) instead of the Council's only other option which was to adopt the petition initiative's ordinance text outright.
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During the Measure M campaign, city management used the same political consulting firm to send three "informational" mailers (with text prepared/approved by the City) to basically the same number to 63,741 households of known voters. The "informational" materials described Measure M as restoring a long-standing previous utility revenue transfer practice, which was half-true.; the previous practice (halted by taxpayer litigation) transferred surplus utility funds, while Measure M allowed City Hall to transfer a portion of gross city-operated utility revenue and authorized the utility to replace it with customer rate increases (which the Mayor-chosen/Council-approved LB Water Commission swiftly did after voters approved Measure M.)
In July 2018, four LB taxpayers (including retired Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske) filed a complaint with CA's Fair Political Practices Commission alleging the content of City Hall's "informational" flier amounted to advocacy and alleged four electeds (Mayor Garcia and Councilmembers Richardson, Andrews and Price) had used city resources to send advocacy materials. Within weeks, agency staff cleared all four electeds, indicating it found insufficient evidence of the allegations against them, but in its correspondence didn't mention any investigation of the taxpayers' allegations regarding the content of the City's Measure M "informational fliers." The agency has since indicated it has no investigation ongoing regarding the City's Measure M "informational" material.
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(Oct. 2, 2018, 10:30 p.m.) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that city management will spend nearly $100,000 to send what it calls "informational mailers" with "unbiased voter information" that it says doesn't advocate a "yes" or "no" vote and will target 90,391 households on Charter Amendments AAA-DDD, ballot measures sought by Mayor Garcia, supported by City Auditor Doud and put on a special November 6 special election ballot without dissent by the City Council.
