SAN MARCOS -- Calling it an issue of free speech, controversial filmmaker Michael Moore said Friday that he won't speak in North County unless Cal State San Marcos pays its share of his $37,000 cost, even though community members have donated more than enough money to cover it.

Moore's scheduled visit to North County next month was canceled Monday by university President Karen Haynes, who said she was concerned about the need for a "balancing perspective."

Speaking in a telephone interview from New York, Moore said Friday that "the university needs to behave as the caretakers of a democratic institution. They have to respect the democratic vote of the students."

Moreover, he said, "(Haynes) declared an election null and void. You don't do that in a democracy."

Haynes' decision, deliberated upon with members of her executive council, rendered moot a 12-3 vote by the student government board on Sept. 10 to spend $6,500 toward bringing Moore to campus on Oct. 13. That money, raised from mandatory student activity fees, was to be added to $30,500 in other university funds to pay for Moore's appearance.

Moore created the controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," which portrays President Bush as manipulating the aftermath of the 2001 attacks on the United States to go to war in Iraq. It is set to be shown on campus on Oct. 5.

Meanwhile, in a letter that circulated on campus, university President Karen S. Haynes apologized Friday for the way she has handled Moore's visit.

"I want to say to you 'up front,' " she wrote, "that in retrospect, I know I could have handed this matter better."

Noting that she has tried to build a new kind of model for discussion on the campus based on openness and consultation, Haynes wrote, "That did not happen in this case -- at least to the degree I would like -- and I regret that."

In her letter, Haynes wrote that after she first heard on Sept. 7 that Moore might be available to speak, she asked for "balance." Students had invited Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to speak prior to election day. A press aide said the governor, who gets some 700 invitations every month, wrote the university on Sept. 10 to say he had to decline.

Haynes wrote that she believes Moore has become a partisan political figure and she pointed out that state law prohibits using public money for partisan activity.

Haynes was careful to define what she meant by balance. It is not, she stated, that "each and every viewpoint … needs to be met by an opposite viewpoint." In this case, she noted, it was about a state university's need to invite all sides to speak when state money is used to host partisan events leading up to an election.

Meanwhile, community members have donated $41,000 to pay for Moore's visit, student government President Manal Yamout said Friday. She said the money was not solicited, but given by people who are "all supportive of free speech."

The cost of Moore's visit has been pegged at roughly $37,000 -- including a $25,000 speaking fee and $12,000 in lodging and travel expenses.

Yamout urged Moore to make a North County visit regardless of where his fee comes from. "I would very much encourage him to consider coming to San Marcos," said the Associated Students Inc. leader, "because there's clearly been an upwelling of support from the students and the community."

If he does come, Moore said Friday that it would not be as a critic of Bush, but as a writer and filmmaker drawing attention to the war in Iraq and the war on terror -- two wars that he said are likely to be around regardless of who is elected president.

Moore's scheduled appearance in October 2003 was canceled when the wildfires broke out. He said that the university made him "a firm and binding offer" in the form of a contract to come this semester.

Cal State San Marcos spokesman Rick Moore, no relation to the filmmaker, said the university has made what he called a proposal to the filmmaker, not a binding commitment. Requests to the university to obtain documentation of the proposal were not immediately successful.

Contact Bruce Kauffman at 760-761-4410 or bkauffman@nctimes.com.