A Riverside whistleblower has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that the ballot language for the June 2 Measure Z election is biased and violates election code.
“I’d like to get an actual fair and impartial ballot title and ballot summary,” Jason Hunter, who filed the lawsuit March 13, told The Riverside Record. “Our government has a really hard time — and the city of Riverside in particular — telling people the truth, because they’re afraid that if you actually told them the truth, people would say no.”
The Riverside City Council voted unanimously March 3 to add a ballot measure to the primary election that, if passed, would both extend the city’s 1% Measure Z sales tax past its current 2036 expiration and increase it to 1.25%.
City officials said the additional revenue would mostly be used to pay for an overhaul of the Riverside Fire Department over the next 15 years.
As part of the approval, the council finalized the language for the ballot measure’s title and question, which outlined the tax increase, the estimated annual revenue it would generate and the services it would fund.
Hunter alleged in his lawsuit that the title, “City of Riverside Services Renewal Measure,” does not effectively disclose to voters that the sales tax would also be increased, calling it a misrepresentation of the facts. He also alleged that the title was misleading voters to believe the revenue generated from the tax would go to fund services when there was no guarantee the city would use the funds solely for that purpose.
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He also alleged that the ballot question violated California’s election code, which requires an “impartial synopsis” of the measure, calling the phrase “continue maintaining” partisan, because as it could imply the services would end if the measure was not approved.
The city disputed Hunter’s claims.
“The ballot measure language is designed to educate the voters on what will be before them on the June 2 ballot,” Phil Pitchford, the city’s public information officer, said in an email to The Record. “It is consistent with language used in past ballot measures, none of which have been found in error by the Fair Political Practices Commission.”
Hunter said he expected the court would expedite the lawsuit in order to make a ruling before ballots were mailed out.
According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, the deadline to submit changes to ballot language is set for April 7.
“I’m doing this on behalf of the general public [and] the taxpayers of the city of Riverside,” Hunter said. “There is a very distinct pattern of what the city does, and they will be back, I guarantee you.”
Last year, Hunter filed a Brown Act petition against the city and the Gage Canal Water Company alleging that the water provider was a de facto public agency and subject to open meetings and public records laws. That case has not yet been resolved.
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