Campaign mailers for a new tax to support San Diego Unified schools include a long list of endorsements, from Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs to the teachers union.
One of those supporters got special billing: Taxpayers Advocate. The campaign highlighted their support with a cartoon of a bulldog and the motto, “SD Taxpayers Advocate Supports Prop J.”
But it turns out that there’s only one person behind the TaxpayersAdvocate.org endorsement: Ronnie Delaney, the former mayor of Del Mar. Delaney sits on the advisory board for the private company that conducts financial studies.
TaxpayersAdvocate.org as an organization hasn’t taken a position on it and its board has not voted on it. Its president, school board candidate Scott Barnett, actually opposes the tax.
So how did its name end up on the campaign mailers? I’m still trying to figure that out. Prop. J consultant Larry Remer said Delaney said she’d endorse the measure for TaxpayersAdvocate.org. Both Delaney and Barnett say she was only representing herself.
Please contact Emily Alpert directly at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5665 and follow her on Twitter: twitter.com/emilyschoolsyou.