City law prohibits publicly funded newsletters during an election
Rules intended to prevent City Hall from interfering with local elections may squash a city newsletter from being distributed to residents next month.
Santa Monica law prohibits publicly-funded newsletters and mass-mailings to residents 88 days before an election. With the upcoming mail-in ballot over Proposition A beginning Feb. 20 and ending March 21, the city’s March edition of the SeaScape would be barred from being published.
The effect could be damaging for the city’s spring recreation programs, which rely on the SeaScape to publish a schedule of community events, city officials said.
“Both customer service and city revenues would be adversely affected if classes must be canceled or remain unfilled,” wrote City Attorney Marsha Moutrie and city spokeswoman Judy Rambeau in a report to the Santa Monica City Council.
That’s why Moutrie and Rambeau have asked the City Council at its Tuesday meeting to suspend the rules when it comes to special elections. Without the change, city staff members say it will be difficult to plan the publication.
Prop. A, also known as the Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative, asks voters to give owners of single-family homes final say on whether their properties can be designated historic by the city.
An earlier issue of the SeaScape already was canceled because of the November election. If the March issue is not printed that means the bi-monthly publication would only have four issues this year.
“We would hate to lose another issue of the SeaScape this year,” said Rambeau, the publication’s editor.
While city staff can cancel the newsletter before general elections — which are well-known in advance — special elections called as a result of a voter initiative, or to fill unexpected council vacancies, pose challenges.
“Elections don’t usually affect us because we can work around them,” Rambeau said. “But when we have these little surprises, that’s when things get difficult to plan around.”
“Elections don’t usually affect us because we can work around them. But when we have theses little surprises, that’s when things get difficult to plan around.” — — JUDY RAMBEAU Community Relations Manager
When the SeaScape is affected by special elections, residents lose out because events, classes, programs and workshops aren’t noticed in time, Moutrie and Rambeau wrote in the report.
The March edition of SeaScape would not contain any information about the mail-in election, Rambeau said. Prop. A is the first mail-in election to be conducted in the city.
“The city clerk would like something in there about registration information and polling locations,” she said. “It’s a deadline concern. We have to get it off to the printers on time, and there’s not enough time to get something in there.”
Notice of the upcoming election will be given through mailed ballots, local media, City TV, and the city’s Web site, Rambeau said.
“I would like to be able to give election information, which I think would be fine,” Rambeau said. “But because of the way this is done, we wouldn’t be able to include that.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 8, 2003. Read the original PDF.