Politicians tend not to like checklists, such as the one we published last week on San Diego mayoral candidates’ positions on hot-button issues. That’s because it forces them to take stands one way or the other even when they might not want to.
Take Carl DeMaio and philanthropist Irwin Jacobs’ controversial plan to remodel Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama. DeMaio has offered tepid backing for the project throughout the process over the past year.
We marked him down for a “supports” on the scorecard. He’s had concerns about design and cost, but when he’s been asked to give a definitive answer on it, he’s said yes. We ran it by his campaign prior to publication and didn’t get any disagreement.
Imagine our surprise, then, when plan opponent Jarvis Ross forwarded us an email he received from DeMaio. Ross had asked DeMaio if our scorecard was right.
“No,” DeMaio wrote to Ross. “Not correct.”
Ross asked us to correct our story.
We contacted DeMaio’s campaign manager Ryan Clumpner, who said the candidate’s position hadn’t changed. The scorecard was accurate.
“We don’t want you to change the answer,” Clumpner said.
Clumpner added that he would have DeMaio contact Ross with a full explanation of his stance. DeMaio did on Saturday. He provided a link to a candidate survey we did on the park plan last summer:
Jarvis: I think this is why the Voice has listed me the way they do on Balboa Park. I voted for the MOU and support moving forward with the process. But as I noted below, I’m not decided yet on the specific proposal being offered by Jacobs. Hope this helps clarify.
Liam Dillon is a news reporter for Voice of San Diego. He covers San Diego City Hall, the 2012 mayor’s race and big building projects. What should he write about next?
Please contact him directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663.
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