Open Letter to Ramon Cortines from Boi from Troy

by Scott Olin Schmidt

Special to Mayor Sam's Sister City

Superintendent Cortines and Board Member Zimmer,

This morning, I began seeing a number of TV ads running promoting Measure E. I was curious as to where they were coming from, since they did not have the usual political disclosure found in most campaign commercials.

I found the ads on YouTube under an anonymous "MeasureE Information" account:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MeasureEInformation

The spanish-language ad said that they were "Information Sponsored by Los Angeles Unified School District" (in English, see attached), but the English-language ads showed nothing of the sort. Once FlashReport wrote about the ads, the Spanish-language ad was taken down and edited to remove the disclosure language

http://www.flashreport.org/blog0a.php?postID=2010060214375633&post_offsetP=0&authID=2005081622025042

As a resident of West Hollywood and a Taxpayer, I have a number of questions. Here are just a few:

1) Were taxpayer funds used to create, develop or run these advertisements?
2) Did LAUSD budget for these commercials while they were sending layoff notices?
3) Are the children in the ads actors or students?
4) Were children taken out of classroom instruction to produce these commercials?
5) Why is there no disclosure on any of the ads, and why was the disclosure in the Spanish-language ad removed?
6) Why were the ads posted anonymously on YouTube rather than clearly stating that they were sponsored by LAUSD?

Our democracy relies on transparency and openness. Taxpayer finds should never be used to promote a vote in an election--either way--especially at a time when you are laying off teachers and administrators.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear your response soon.

Sincerely,
Scott Schmidt
West Hollywood, CA

Scott Olin Schmidt is a nationally recognized blogger who publishes weblog about culture, politics, and sports. He has written for Wonkette, Gridskipper, and Spot-On.com. He has been quoted by Instapundit, Gawker, Defamer, Kausfiles, Hugh Hewitt, and numerous other weblogs. He is the blogger behind the legendary but now defunct blog "Boi From Troy."