Two recent occurrences blur the line between advocating

for and simply giving information out about Measure K.

City officials, including Mayor Tom Cosgrove, have said on numerous occasions that city employees are not to advocate for or against the proposed utility users’ tax on city time.

“The standard for what advocacy is, the government body is allowed to spend taxpayer funding to provide impartial information to the electorate, not advocate that out,” said Roman Porter, the Fair Political Practices Commission’s executive director in Sacramento, on Friday.

A sign recently appeared in front of the McBean Park Fire Station, which states, “This fire station is closed due to budget cuts. If you have an emergency, please dial 9-1-1.”

The McBean Park Fire Station was recently closed due to lack of staffing in the fire department because of the city’s current financial woes, according to previous News Messenger reports.

Also, the first page in the City of Lincoln Recreation Department Recreation Guide for Fall/Winter 2010 is titled “Recreation Programs Cut in Recent Budget,” and details how the city balanced its budget in the past, how the city’s budget was balanced this year, the dollar amount of the city’s structural deficit, and what it will mean for the city if Measure K does or does not pass.

“Anytime you provide factual information, it’s not advocating,” City Manager Jim Estep said.

Estep said both the sign and the first page of the recreation are not advocating.

“If we said, “This fire station is closed but if you vote yes on Measure K,” that would be advocating,” Estep said. “The only time it’s really advocating is when you start saying, “vote yes.’”

The News Messenger asked Lincoln Fire Chief Dave Whitt why the fire station sign was closed due to “budget cuts,” yet there was no sign on the Twelve Bridges Fire Station when it was closed for more than a year due to mold problems.

“We kept being told it’ll be open soon. Hindsight 20/20, I didn’t know the mold mitigation would take 19 months,” Whitt said. “That rests on my shoulders. We should have put it up there.”

Whitt said the fire department, as a team, discussed putting the sign up.

“We wanted to put out information to say why it’s closed and what to do,” Whitt said. “My thing was, I didn’t want someone to pull up, view the apparatus and try to get help with nobody there. We needed to put the sign up there saying why.”

The News Messenger asked Whitt why, specifically, the phrase “budget cuts” is on the sign.

“I think that’s important for them to find out why it’s closed. A lot of people still didn’t realize the Twelve Bridges Fire Station was closed,” he said. “They should know it’s a reduction in the level of services. A city our size should have four engine companies and we’re having to hold on for the foreseeable future with two.”

When asked if he considered the sign as advocating for the tax, Whitt said “no.”

Whitt said “whether it (Measure K) passes or not, it doesn’t change the fact” that one fire station is closed.

City of Lincoln’s public information officer Jill Thompson said the sign is “absolutely not” advocating for Measure K.

“It’s an informative sign that the station is closed and does not refer to Measure K,” Thompson said.

Catherine Lew, president and CEO of the Lew Edwards Group, responded through e-mail to The News Messenger’s questions about the sign in front of the fire station and the first page of the recreation guide.

The city is currently paying the Lew Edwards Group $54,000 to educate residents about Measure K.

“Though I haven’t seen the actual sign, I know of a number of cities that have put up similar signs in their City Halls, libraries, pools, public counters, parks or fire stations if they have been closed due to budget cuts or furloughs during hours that the public would expect them to be open or available to assist the community,” Lew wrote. “This is not unusual and probably helpful to the public. It is not something that is viewed as advocacy.”

The News Messenger asked the city’s assistant director of recreation Mandy Walker-Miller if she thought the recreation guide’s first page was promoting Measure K.

“I don’t believe it’s advocating,” Walker-Miller said. “Some people may perceive it that way but we’re not telling them to vote yes or no. It’s informational only.”

Walker-Miller said the recreation department as a whole chose to include the page of information in the guide, which she sends out about three times a year, to let residents know about “changes to the recreation department.”

“It’s publicity to get information to customers and the community about the recreation program, to let them know about what’s happening to the program,” Walker-Miller said. “It’s general information that has been talked about at workshops.”

The News Messenger also asked Thomspon if she thought the information provided in the recreation guide is advocacy.

“Does it say vote for Measure K? It tells everyone what Measure K is, what it will do and the consequence of it not passing,” Thompson said. “Everything we send out now needs to have clear messaging about where the city is financially.”

She said this is because the city wants residents to “be aware of our current financial position.”

“We have a little less than 2 ½ months to make sure people have the information they need so they can make an informed decision on how to vote,” Thompson said.

Lew was also asked if the information in the recreation guide could be considered advocacy for the tax.

“In other cities, this is considered factual information, especially when contained within a larger explanation of the budget and discussing a city program where services may be impacted by budget cuts,” Lew wrote.

The News Messenger asked residents downtown if they thought the sign and/or the recreation guide are advocating for the tax.

“I would say yeah, they are doing it, because it says budget cuts on the fire sign,” Jenny Blanco said.

She said the recreation guide page gives the problem and a solution.

“It says this is how to fix it through Measure K and I would say that’s advocating,” Blanco said.

Judi Magaw said she would vote no on the tax.

“We won’t vote for any new tax until they start running their budgets right,” Magaw said.

Dan Magaw said he didn’t consider the sign or the front page of the recreation guide as advocating.

“It doesn’t directly say vote for Measure K so I don’t think so,” Dan Magaw said.