Judge rules anti-Prop. A argument is not false, misleading

By: SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer | Tuesday, September 14, 2004 11:12 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that a written ballot statement opposing the extension of a countywide transportation tax does not contain false or misleading information.

As a result, the rebuttal argument against Proposition A on the November ballot can be distributed to voters countywide without any changes.

Meanwhile, a similar lawsuit that an opponent of Prop. A challenging a written argument that favors the measure will not proceed because it lacked some needed paperwork, the woman who filed the lawsuit said Tuesday.

Prop. A would extend a half-cent countywide sales tax called TransNet for 40 years, starting in 2008. If passed, the extension is expected to raise $14 billion, with the revenues being split roughly in thirds between freeway, surface street and public transportation projects.

Proponents of the measure say the tax is the financial backbone for the region's transportation system. Opponents of Prop. A say the measure is a flawed proposal that won't ease congestion. The measure needs to receive a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

Ballot summaries are distributed to voters by the county Registrar of Voters prior to the election.

Each ballot summary for initiatives includes an argument in favor and argument against the measure and rebuttals to those arguments.

Lisa Briggs, executive director of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, which supports Prop. A, filed a lawsuit Sept. 3 in Superior Court against County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Pam Slater-Price and Roger Hedgecock, a conservative radio talk show host and a former San Diego mayor. The three, who oppose Prop. A, endorsed a rebuttal to the argument that favored the proposition.

Briggs asked the court to strike portions of the rebuttal argument against Prop. A that she alleged were false or misleading. An attorney for Jacob and Slater-Price argued in court Tuesday that the rebuttal argument opposing Prop. A was not false or misleading, but stated a viewpoint that should be debated "in the marketplace of ideas," not in the courtroom.

Judge William Pate decided no changes to the ballot argument were necessary.

Briggs said Tuesday that she was disappointed with Pate's decision, but that she will not appeal it.

"I firmly believe it was appropriate for us to bring this challenge," Briggs said.

Jacob said Tuesday's ruling was a "real win" for county voters, who, she said, will now hear the truth about the measure.

"I'm very, very pleased that the judge rejected this attempt at censorship," Jacob said. "The voters have a right to hear all the opinions on this measure."

In a separate case, Carolyn Chase, an opponent of TransNet, learned at a hearing Tuesday that she did not file all the proper paperwork for a lawsuit she filed against Prop. A proponents because of the wording of their rebuttal argument supporting the measure.

While Chase's lawsuit was not dismissed, she is opting to not proceed because the ballots will have already been printed by the time the errors were corrected.

"I'm not going to take any further action," said Chase, who is a member of a group called Taxpayers for Better Transportation Planning.

She sued the five authors of the rebuttal to the argument against the tax: William Lansdowne, the chief of the San Diego Police Department; County Supervisor Greg Cox; Dan Silver, the executive director of the Endangered Habitats League; Andrew Mauro, conservation chairman of the Buena Vista Audubon Society and Cecilia Cazares, the chairwoman of the legislative committee for the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The suit also listed 20 unnamed parties and, in accordance with the law, county Registrar of Voters Sally McPherson.

Staff writer Katherine Marks contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Scott Marshall at (760) 631-6623 or smarshall@nctimes.com.

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