Solana Beach voters will choose two new city councilmembers in the Nov. 6 election. Ahead of next Tuesday, a political action committee based in Murrieta is spending thousands of dollars to attack current representatives.
The group, Citizens for Government Integrity, sent mailers that read, "It's time to end corruption on the City Council," and "Taxpayers are victims of a corrupt City Council." They support the election of Craig Nelson and Shawn McClondon, who withdrew from the race, according to a statement filed with the Solana Beach City Clerk. Solana Beach voters will choose two councilmembers in the Nov. 6 election.
Citizens for Government Integrity has spent more than $9,000 on mailers supporting Nelson, as well as thousands of dollars on City Council races in Murrieta as of Oct. 20, according to campaign filings. It has received $20,000 from Emerald VentureGroup Inc., a construction company based in La Jolla, along with $20,000 from Dr. Martin Rindahl, a Fresno radiologist.
The committee has La Mesa City Councilman William Baber as its treasurer and former state Senator Dennis Hollingsworth as a controlling officer.
Solana Beach Councilwoman Lesa Heebner said she does not understand why outside groups would get involved in a Solana Beach race.
"What exactly is a La Mesa councilmember doing getting deep into a Solana Beach city election?" she said. "It's unusual to have a PAC producing, printing and mailing to every single household mailers with baseless accusations."
Baber said he is a professional accountant with dozens of clients who are political committees and is not responsible for what those committees send out.
"If I was responsible for content for every piece of mail that went out, my head would explode," he said.
