Opinion: Where’s the line between being an attentive politician and campaigning on the public dime?

I received my first two campaign-related mailers of 2017 the other day. The first was from the campaign for Measure S, a slow-growth proposition on the March 7 Los Angeles city ballot. The other one was from, ah … wait a minute.

Oops. That second one sure looked like a campaign mailer: The same thick glossy card stock, pictures of happy, well-groomed generic people and the name of an elected official running in a very competitive congressional race.

Nope, turns out this was just an invitation to a free women’s self-defense workshop in Glassell Park put on by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles). Attendees also will hear about legislation on women’s issues and safety. From Jimmy Gomez, one presumes. The mailer indicates he will be there, as he was at a similar workshop in January.

I’m totally sure Gomez’s interest in my personal safety has nothing to do with the fact that he’s hoping to win a rare open Congressional seat vacated by Xavier Becerra, who was appointed California attorney general last month.

Still, interesting timing. Gomez joined the race for the mid-Los Angeles 34th congressional race in December, and not long after, constituents get a special taxpayer-funded invite to a workshop held in the heart of the 34th congressional district.

Coincidence? Who knows? The line between constituent service and unofficial campaigning can be awfully fuzzy. So what if a candidate suddenly holds a lot of news conferences (of self-defense workshops) and in-district events around election time? Who’s to say that isn’t just part of the job?

This Measure S campaign mailer is the real thing

(Mariel Garza/Los Angeles Times)

There are laws regarding elected officials’ sending out mass mailers on the public’s dime (the postage on Gomez’s mailer was paid by the California Assembly) that seem to be aimed at curbing the practice of campaign mailers thinly designed as official constituent communication. However, there are exceptions. One of them is for mailers sent to constituents announcing a public meeting (check — I suppose a free workshop could be considered a meeting) related to his or her official business (check-ish; you could say this is promoting public safety), which the elected official will attend (check).

But those mailers can’t have a picture of the candidate (check) and are supposed to mention only the elected official’s name once. (Uh oh. Gomez’ name is on this mailer twice. But one appears in the return address field. There may be an exception for that.)

I don’t mean to pick on Gomez especially. He isn’t doing something new or terribly original. Elected officials regularly push the envelope (or mailer) to keep their names fresh in the minds of constituents, who may not even realize they have an assemblyman come election day, let alone remember his name.

I’ve received mail from Rep. Becerra over the years, too. And once I came home to find a reusable grocery bag on my stoop bearing County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s name. I never was clear where the bag came from, who paid for it and what it was supposed to convey, but at least it came in handy.

I always imagine that every time Gavin Newsom gets attention for making some comment in the official capacity of his job as the state’s lieutenant governor, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, his gubernatorial rival, seethes a little. I would certainly understand. It seems unfair that elected officials have a platform and audience they can use to their advantage during a campaign that other candidates can’t.

Maybe Villaraigosa should hold some self-defense workshops.

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