CURRENT NEWS ISSUES
This page last updated on April 24, 2002
Endorsement Policy
Policy on political endorsements
The website editor and the website team receive requests for political endorsements and candidate recommendations.
We appreciate the efforts of the many candidates who have been involved in the anti-airport fight and the passage of Measures F and W. However, we will not endorse individual candidates, because they may be running against others who have also worked for our cause in important but less obvious ways. For example, it may be difficult to choose between an incumbent council member, who voted to fund ETRPA’s anti-airport budget or a city’s get out the vote efforts at the expense of other local projects, and a hard working activist challenger.
We are a one-issue activity. We are unable to make an informed judgement as to the overall merits of each candidate in the many local elections. It is hard enough to do in our own towns. Frequently, there are contentious local issues about which we know little. An endorsement of a candidate implies an endorsement of their position on these issues over those of some other candidate.
We can not rely on third party opinions or statements regarding candidates.
Therefore, we will do the following:
1. When asked by a candidate that we know, we gladly will issue statements regarding the candidate’s activities on behalf of the anti-airport efforts. The candidate may use such statements in their campaigns but they do not constitute an endorsement in the usual sense. We request that we not be listed as endorsing the candidate. We may give statements to one or more candidate in a race.
2. When asked about a candidate by others, we will indicate whether or not the candidate has, to our knowledge, been actively opposed to El Toro airport. At the request of the Committee for Safe and Healthy Communities, we have published a page listing elected officials who have personally contributed or raised funds for the anti-airport Measure W campaign.
3. In elections where the winning candidates can have some future effect
on the El Toro reuse, we will actively promote anti-airport candidates
who are running against those who are known to back an airport.