Taxpayers Association's Formal Complaint

Published: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 1:15 PM PDT

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The San Diego County Taxpayers Association summed up its criticisms of the Unified Port of San Diego's $59,000 advertising campaign in a letter sent yesterday to the port.

Lani Lutar, the association's executive director and CEO, said this in the letter:

While the letter specifically calls the message “educational” and urges readers to “examine the facts” and “learn about the Port,” the underlying assertions expressed in the letter encourage readers to oppose the “Marine Freight Preservation and Bayfront Redevelopment Initiative.” Simply omitting a statement that explicitly urges voters to support or oppose a ballot measure does not qualify the message as “educational” when its implications clearly represent an argument for one side only.

We examined the issue of whether the campaign is legal in a story today.

-- ROB DAVIS