Measure M In the Irvine Council Races

From this week's OC Insider by Rick Reiff in the OCBJ:

The bipartisan campaign to renew Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, has hit a partisan pothole. Irvine Councilwoman Christina Shea and Irvine mayoral candidate John Duong, both Republicans, are objecting to Measure M ads in the Larry Agran-inspired Hometown Voter Guide that tout their Democrat rivals Sukhee Kang, Beth Krom and Mary Ann Gaido. The guide indicates that Measure M “paid for and authorized” the spots, but M campaign organizers told the Insider that an Agran-affiliated group, not they, footed the bill. M campaigners did say that they welcome support from politicians of all stripes. Duong acknowledged it might have been clever of the Agran camp to align with a popular measure that he and Shea also support. But he said the appearance of partisanship could hurt M, which needs a two-thirds vote to pass ...

Comments

[Jeff Flint]

Thanks, Jubal for posting this, as it gives me another opportunity to state definitively that the official "Committee to Renew Measure M" campaign did not in any way pay to appear on the Hometown Voter Guide, or coordinate with any campaigns in Irvine (or any other city for that matter.) I have spoken to John Duong, Christina Shea, Chuck Devore, Scott Baugh, and others about this on numerous occasions to assure them of this.

Both Christina and John support Measure M.

Hometown Voter Guide is a registered slate mailer. The asterick on the HTV guide merely indicates that someone paid for the Yes on M position. I can tell you with 100% certainty that it was not our committee that paid for this appearance. Fortunately, both our committee and the HTV committee have to disclose receipts and payments, so you can "trust but verify" if you like.

The "Committee to Renew Measure M" has one goal, to get 66.7% or greater for Measure M, and we have no involvement with any candidate campaigns in the County. We're ahead of that margin right now, and I can understand why local candidates want to piggyback on the strong support Measure M is receiving.

Thanks again, Jubal.

Jeff