Candidate targeted in phone poll

Lolita Harper

A political phone survey spotlighting Planning Commission

Chairwoman Katrina Foley’s party affiliation and occupation has

raised the ire of her supporters, who call the strategy unscrupulous.

The survey of 300 Costa Mesa voters sponsored by the Rental

Housing Independent, based in Garden Grove, asked people if they were

aware that Foley, who is running for a seat on the City Council, was

a registered Democrat and an attorney. The poll also asked if they

knew she was “against people remodeling their homes.”

Results of the poll were delivered to Councilman Gary Monahan and

Planning Commissioner Bill Perkins, also candidates for the City

Council. Both said they reported the results as “in-kind

contributions” on their latest campaign finance statements, but

stressed they had not commissioned the poll.

Mesa del Mar resident Nadine Andreen, who received the phone call

last week, said the survey appalled her.

“I can’t ever remember this kind of dirty politics,” Andreen said,

adding that city elections are supposed to be about issues, not party

politics.

Foley said she was disappointed by the partisan tactics and

outright lies about her views, but was not going to let it distract

her.

“I find it unfortunate that partisan politics are infecting the

race, but I am glad that they are phone banking on my behalf and

getting my name out there,” Foley said.

Foley organized her own phone bank campaign on Thursday to counter

the “false messages” that are being spread about her -- specifically

the skewed message about her views on home remodeling.

Matt Petteruto, the director of public affairs for Rental Housing

Independent, said the poll was done to gauge Foley’s chances of

winning a seat on the dais.

Foley’s push for a citywide substandard housing program worries

the members of his organization, he said.

Although the details of such a program have not been finalized or

even announced during a public meeting, Petteruto said he

“understood” the proposed program would create unnecessary fees for

Costa Mesa apartment owners.

Members of the Rental Housing Independent also felt slighted that

Foley pushed a substandard housing program without asking for input

from apartment owners, he said.

“Our main concern was that if we weren’t contacted in the initial

stages of this, would our concerns be listened to should this go to

the City Council and should Ms. Foley be elected to it,” Petteruto

said.

Perkins was not a subject of the phone poll because Foley was

considered to be the driving force behind it, Petteruto said.

The poll does not indicate that apartment owners are not in favor

of a program to eradicate substandard housing, he said. The Apartment

Assn. of Orange County, the parent organization of the Rental Housing

Independent, helped create the Santa Ana-based substandard housing

program that the Planning Commission’s proposal is modeled after.

Still, questions from the phone survey did not focus on rental or

substandard housing; instead they concentrated on Foley’s voting

party, her alleged views on home remodeling and her profession.

Petteruto said his organization was trying to gauge whether voters

were aware of who was backing her and where she stood on city issues,

adding that it is important that voters know what organizations a

candidate is aligned with.

Pollster Adam Probolsky, who conducted the phone survey, agreed.

“The reality is that voters look to find people that they agree

with in general terms,” Probolsky said. “Often times in local races

you don’t know where people are on exact issues, so you look to their

party registration as a compass.”

Probolsky added that it was “very healthy” to give voters party

information and that the poll serves as a helpful tool.

The two candidates who inadvertently benefited from that tool,

Monahan and Perkins, received results of the phone survey to use in

their campaigns.

Monahan said he was faxed a letter that claimed the poll was done

on his behalf, along with the results of the survey.

“I had nothing to do with the poll, I was just a recipient of the

information, as was Bill,” Monahan said. “By the time I knew about

it, it had already been done.”

Perkins said he had been unaware of the survey but said voters

should know a candidate’s party affiliation. He argues that local

politicians have more of an immediate affect on their electorate, and

if a party is relevant on a larger scale, it should be relevant on

the smaller scene also.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.