While the city of Costa Mesa continues its rapid pace of releasing Tweets and Facebook updates, the union-supported, citizen group, Repair Costa Mesa, has put out its second TV commercial. This one targets the city's top seven bureaucrats, who–the commercial claims–make $1.5 million in “pay and perks.”
Within hours of the commercial's release, the new $3,000/week interim communications director, William Lobdell released a statement introducing the city's “Fact Check” campaign, beginning with a few corrections pertaining to the new commercial.
Corrections and commercial after the jump.
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Repair Costa Mesa is supported (and potentially financed) by the Orange County Employees Association.
Lobdell indicated that the Fact Check effort is to dismiss any misinformation that the ad campaign presents. A press release to the media indicates the following corrections:
• “Costa Mesa City Council laid off nearly half the city's workers, including firefighters and paramedics”–nearly 43 percent of the workforce was laid off, including 100 firefighters, who could be employed with the Orange County Fire Authority. Pretty damn close to half, considering none of these jobs is guaranteed.
• CEO Tom Hatch's “$10,000 car allowance”: Hatch actually has a $477 monthly car allowance or $5,724 annually. According to the Daily Pilot's report, in the 2010-11 budget, the city manager's office had a $10,800 auto allowance, which includes the assistant city manager. Because Costa Mesa officials have to get around in style. And spinners are expensive!
And that's where the corrections stopped. No mention of that $1.5 million. Seems the city has some explaining to do.
