Ironically, the taxpayers will end up paying for the legal defense and wasted time by city staff to defend what the city did. With all the great things that the City is working on, it is a shame to make such an unforced error that diverts resources and attention from them.
Even if the city thought the flyer could walk a fine legal tightrope that kept it from being found to be an improper attempt to influence the vote, EVERYBODY who read it knew what was going on. And with everybody knowing, a legal challenge with the PDC would be inevitable and costly.
So even if the City ultimately prevails in a technical defense of the legality of the flyer, the violation of the spirit of the law is beyond defense.
The cost of such action goes beyond dollars and wasted city staff time on creating and then defending the flyer. Regardless of the outcome of the PDC complaint, the bigger cost is the contribution to increasing public cynicism of government.
I'd rather see the city stop committing the same offense that will again lead to PDC complaints than, as the complaint suggests, a fine.
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