PR newspaper takes role in election

www.sahuaritasun.com

The Sahuarita Times paper, published by a Rancho Sahuarita Co. consultant, has jumped into the Town Council election, writing stories highly favorable to three candidates while taking swipes at or ignoring the others.

The three front-page stories in the April edition of the monthly paper are related to the election. They included a Q&A with three challengers supported by developer Bob Sharpe — Duane Blumberg, Kara Egbert and Rosanna Gabaldon. The article does not mention the other three candidates, incumbents John Sullivan and Roger Minor and challenger Alex Jacome.

Another story is drawn from a press release from the BEG for Change political committee, which is backed by Sharpe and which supports Blumberg, Egbert and Gabaldon. The release criticizes Sullivan and Minor and includes no response from them. They said they were not contacted by the paper.

The third front-page story was an account of two Town Council meetings that quotes Sharpe and reflects his viewpoint on perceived roadblocks to getting The Home Depot to come to Sahuarita.

Half of Page 3 was an endorsement of the BEG candidates by former candidate David Gifford, who finished seventh in the primary election and was eliminated from the general election.

The Sahuarita Times is published by Geo Advertising and Marketing of Tucson, the marketing firm for the developer. It is mailed to homes throughout the town and bills itself as “serving all of Sahuarita and Southern Arizona.”

Publisher Georgia R. Lacy, who is president of Geo Advertising, and editor Theo Serrano, have not responded to repeated requests about the non-bylined stories though several Geo employees said a response was coming earlier this week. Sharpe said Tuesday that the Rancho Sahuarita Co. advertises in the paper but “doesn’t own it or control it.”

The April edition raises questions about whether Geo is making an in-kind donation to the three candidates or to the BEG for Change committee, though there does not appear to be a legal issue.

Rancho Sahuarita political consultant and BEG spokeswoman Carol Zimmerman, as well as Deputy Pima County Attorney Dan Jurkowitz, said election law prevents corporations from making donations to political candidates or committees, either in cash or in-kind. However, Jurkowitz said there is an exception for communications media that allows for endorsements before an election.

“There generally is a media exception,” Jurkowitz said. “Media get to make endorsements for candidates before an election, so there is an exception specifically for media to endorse a candidate as long as that media organization is not a political party, or owned by a party, candidate or a political committee.”

Though nearly all of the editorial content of the Sahuarita Times, until this issue, consisted of news releases from Rancho Sahuarita Co. or local businesses or government agencies, it is likely to fit under the definition of media, rather than a political entity, and would be exempt from the corporate donation rule.

Sharpe told The Sahuarita Sun last month that Rancho Sahuarita Co. would not directly influence the campaign, but he did not specifically mention his contractors.

BEG for Change is an independent committee that will not donate money to candidates, but instead will provide independent support, such as mailing and phone calls. Zimmerman said the committee has no connection to the Sahuarita Times.

But Minor, a target in the recent edition, called it “Sharpe’s newspaper.”

Minor, who lives in Rancho Sahuarita, as do Sullivan and Egbert, said Monday he still considers Sharpe a friend but said, “Why he has it in for me I don’t really know.”

Minor said Sharpe wants people on the council “he can control. He knows he can’t control John.”

Minor has said he believes Sharpe is targeting Sullivan for defeat. Sullivan said he didn’t think the stories in the Sahuarita Times were accurate, but did not elaborate.

Blumberg, who finished first in the primary, said, “The criticisms of the Council action (on Home Depot) are contained essentially in comments attributed to Mr. Sharpe, who should be the person to answer questions about them.”

Sharpe said he appreciates the service given by Sullivan and Minor, but that “it’s time for a change.”

Egbert did not respond to questions about the paper and Gabaldon said, “It would be inappropriate for me to provide editorial comment of a newspaper’s front page to a competing newspaper. However, my responses to their questions were accurately published.”

She said the Times’ portrayal of events at Town Council meetings “appear to be accurate. The recording of the council meeting is available on the Town’s web site if there is a doubt.”

Minor said he thought the all-out effort by Sharpe to have a role in the election might backfire.

“Do people in Rancho Resort and Quail Creek, and people who are part of FICO, do they want to be told who to vote for?”

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738