The Los Angeles developer who spent $10.5 million on a campaign to pass “Measure A,” which calls for building a mega-mall on the shore of a lagoon in Carlsbad, actually lost yesterday. A small, underfunded group with $100,000 to spend won the day by a narrow margin.
Sadly, $75,000 of funding for what turned out to be the winning side came from a competitor of the LA developer, owner of a nearby mall which would have been in competition with the new mall, so the “save the lagoon” group was not entirely the noble cause that it presented itself to be.
Still, Los Angeles big money did not win the day. Sons of bitches didn’t get our football team (at least not yet), and they didn’t get our lagoon, either.
Most of the $10.5 million was spent on television ads that talked about “saving 176 acres of open space,” about being “good for us local businessmen,” and about “reducing traffic” and “shorter red light wait times.” Because every small business wants a shopping mall nearby competing with him, and we all know that no shopping mall ever creates traffic.
While swanning about “saving 176 acres of open space,” no mention is made about the 49 acres of open space being destroyed by the mall. As a matter of fact, none of the ads mention anything about a shopping mall at all. Most people outside of Carlsbad did not even know that Measure A had anything to do with a shopping mall. “Shopping mall? What shopping mall? I thought it was about open space.”
I am somewhat cheered. For once, big money and dishonesty did not prevail.
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