Statement: “I am the only council member with a direct city e-mail and telephone,” Carlsbad City Councilman Keith Blackburn wrote in candidate statements in support of his bid for mayor.
Determination: False
Analysis: Blackburn is running for mayor of Carlsbad this November against three competitors. They are Glenn Bernard, Matt Hall and Walt Meier.
In ballot materials provided to voters, Blackburn boasts that one of his strengths is being accessible to the public. To back it up, he listed a few ways that the public can contact him more easily than his peers on the City Council.
In fact, Blackburn is the only City Council member with a personalized city email address. Other city council members receive email through the same address, council@carlsbadca.gov. That practice has been used by the city to ensure that each council member receives the same correspondence from the public.
But second assertion about being the only council member with a direct phone line is not accurate.
On each of their business cards, each Carlsbad council member lists the same office phone number that goes to the City Council’s secretary. Two members also list home phone numbers and Blackburn lists his personal cell phone.
Since a home phone and cell phone are both direct numbers, we’ve called Blackburn’s statement false. In an interview, Blackburn acknowledged the error and said it was based on an incorrect assumption about his colleagues’ phone numbers.
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Please contact Keegan Kyle directly at keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5668 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/keegankyle.