It's a bold claim. "Only one candidate led the fight against City Hall's wasteful stadium plan."
It's printed on a bifold political mailer with a photo of wadded dollars bills spilling out from a wastepaper basket. On the inside of the mailer, San Diego City Council District 9 candidate Georgette Gómez is pictured talking with voters.
All of the candidates running to replace City Councilwoman Marti Emerald — who represents the mid-city area and parts of southeastern San Diego — have come out against public financing for a new Chargers stadium.
So what makes Gómez different? What constitutes a fight, versus plain old opposition, against spending taxpayer dollars on a stadium?
"We did a post, we did a public statement, we did a letter to all of the candidates for City Council asking them to join us," said Dan Rottenstreich, a spokesman for Gómez. "The Union-Tribune reported on this. We also started the #NotOneDime petition."
#NotOneDime
By post, Rottenstreich is referring to an announcement Gómez's campaign made on Facebook on Aug. 13, 2015, a few days after Mayor Kevin Faulconer and county Supervisor Ron Roberts told the Chargers they'd pony up $350 million if voters approve the stadium expense.
The post details Gómez's opposition to the plan and urges San Diegans to go to her campaign website to sign her #NotOneDime petition. Her campaign did not say how many people have signed the petition. The post itself got 64 likes, and the hashtag didn't take off (at least not enough to overtake Twitter streams from Black Lives Matter activists who frequently use it).
Gómez followed up her Facebook post with a news release and an email to every candidate running for a seat on the City Council.
"On the campaign trail, we may disagree about much, but we should all be united in opposing City Hall giveaways that shortchange our neighborhoods," the email says.
What her opponents say
"I saw the mailer. It's misleading," said Gómez's opponent, Sarah Saez. "I've spoken out on the stadium multiple times, on social media and at every single debate. It's a hot button topic with voters so I understand why she's doing it, but she's not the only candidate who has been leading the fight."
Saez voiced her opposition on her campaign's Facebook page the same day as Gómez. Saez also posted on July 14, 2015, her opposition to a $2.1 million environmental review for a new Mission Valley stadium.
Another District 9 candidate, Ricardo Flores, wasn't as active on Facebook back then. But his boss — he's Emerald's lead adviser as her chief of staff — voted against the environmental review expenditure.
"From the very start of his campaign for District 9, Ricardo has publicly and firmly stated in every forum and debate he has participated in that he is against using any taxpayer money to build a new Chargers stadium," Flores' campaign said in a statement.
Candidate Araceli Martinez said Gómez's mailer is overstating her role.
"With all due respect, an email not elevating a blip of reaction, and with no follow through effort, does not constitute leadership in reference to the wasteful stadium plan," Martinez said in an email. "In fact, the candidate supports a plan, which raises taxes, the revenue of which will not necessarily go to our neighborhoods, and lays the groundwork for a stadium, leaving open the proposition that it be built at public expense, while circumventing environmental protections. My position has been consistent throughout; I oppose using public funds to build a stadium, public funds should be used in our neighborhoods to improve our quality of life, and I favor protection of our environment."
RELATED: San Diego District 9 Candidates On The Issues
The Citizens' Plan
Martinez is referring to Gómez's support for the Citizens' Plan, a ballot initiative that would OK a hotel tax increase to fund a convention center expansion and clear legal hurdles for a stadium next door.
The nuanced plan has become fodder for other political mailers, with some candidates suggesting supporting it leaves the door open for a publicly financed downtown stadium.
#ShowUsYourMailers
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That's because the plan doesn’t eliminate the possibility of spending public dollars on a stadium. It still allows for a separate public vote to spend separate tax dollars on a stadium.
However, the ballot measure does prohibit the new hotel tax from going toward the stadium side of what some have called a "convadium" (though some have argued that delineation in funds would be tricky given the facilities might share walls, parking and city infrastructure).
Martinez is right that the initiative wouldn't necessarily result in neighborhood improvements — the whole reason Gómez launched #NotOneDime to begin with. But it could. It would eliminate an existing mandate that a set amount of hotel tax revenue go toward tourism, meaning that money could be rerouted to city infrastructure.
Flores also pointed to Gómez's support for the initiative when asked to comment on her mailer. He said he has concerns about other carve outs for tourism spending and shortcuts around environmental laws allowed by the initiative.
Again, it's nuanced. But Rottenstreich's defense of Gómez's mailer is not.
"Georgette has made her opposition to public money for a stadium a centerpiece of her campaign," Rottenstreich said. "This isn't about one post or one mail piece or one tweet. Days after the mayor announced his proposed plan to spend $350 million in public money on a stadium, Georgette leapt into action. She immediately announced her opposition to the plan, began collecting signatures on a petition to City Hall to oppose it and since then hasn't stopped."
RELATED: Who’s The Establishment Candidate In District 9?
Rottenstreich said all of Gómez's mailers have included her #NotOneDime message while mailers from the other candidates haven't. That's true. Flores' fliers have focused on his work in Emerald's office. KPBS hasn't received mailers from Saez and Martinez, who have substantially less funding.
The farmers market
There's one last thing. Gómez's mailer says, "She brought the Farmer's Market to our community."
One of the first farmers markets to operate in a low-income community opened in City Heights in 2008. Gómez told KPBS in an April interview she contributed to the effort as a resident volunteer.
The market was, in fact, a collaboration. But it was spearheaded by the International Rescue Committee, San Diego Farm Bureau, San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative and San Diego Nutrition Network.
Rottenstreich did not get back to KPBS regarding the statement.
