Jay Wierenga, a spokesman for the state commission, said that its five-member body will be voting Aug. 20 on whether to accept the settlement. Approval of the agreement would resolve enforcement proceedings by the commission against the county.
“This has been an ongoing frustrating issue for taxpayers throughout the state of California, and that is seeing the brazen use of taxpayer dollars for political advocacy,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. “This is not a situation where they’re merely engaging in informational outreach, which is allowed, but blatantly taking sides and using taxpayer dollars to do so.”
In a statement, L.A. County spokeswoman Lennie LaGuire said the county “is pleased to resolve this matter so we can continue to focus on the health and safety of the people of Los Angeles County.”
In its settlement with the state and with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., the county held that the agreement “shall not be considered an admission of liability.”
According to the settlement, the county entered into a contract in January 2017 to conduct a public education campaign to support Measure H that included television commercials, and ultimately spent about $1 million on materials related to the measure and the county’s Homeless Initiative. Commercials included the words “The Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative” and the slogan “Real help. Lasting Change.” Ads that ran before the election touted “Measure H on the March 7 Ballot” and “Are you ready? Vote March 7.”
The company the county contracted with to conduct public outreach also arranged for commercials to run on Spanish-language radio stations in the L.A. area and encouraged listeners to visit the county’s website to obtain more information, the settlement says.
Times staff writer Adam Elmahrek contributed to this report.