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November 15, 2014 Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilmembers Santa Ana City Council 20 Civic Center Plaza �? o P.O. Box 1988, M31 m� Santa Ana, CA 92701 � o Sent via email: citycouncil @santa - ana.org "i 1� co Dear Honorable Mayor Pulido & Councilmembers, z I understand that you are considering creating a revenue stream for your city using o4gor advertising. As a Santa Clarita City Councilmember who has recently gone through a cor�enti& ordinance adoption, referendum process and ballot measure that was ultimately defeated"by our residents, I wish to share my experience with you about one of your potential consultants, Allvision. The proposal before our Council was brought by the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which uses Allvision to handle its outdoor advertising. MTA/Allvision would take down a significant number of billboards along the railroad right -of -way in exchange for building three digital billboards along the I -5 and CA -14 freeways and a 50 -year exclusivity on the operation of those boards. Highlighted in their presentation was the possibility that the city could make millions of dollars from ad revenue, which would have been split between Metro, Allvision and the City, with the City responsible for the lion's share of expenses. The Allvision company hired lobbyists who harassed me and my supporters, in an aggressive and unnecessary manner. They also falsified documents given to the State saying that a billboard site was zoned as commercial when in reality it was actually open space. After a majority of the Council approved the proposal, a referendum process began, which successfully gathered 18,000 signatures, forcing the council to either retract the ordinance or put it to a vote of the people. That election took place Nov. 4 and Measure S, as it was named, was defeated by a majority vote of 56 percent to 44 percent of the voters. While this may sound like a perfect example of democracy at work, the process was fraught with conflict, deception and violence, all of which was traced back to Allvision through their expenditures, acting as an agent of Metro. The Council was informed by Allvision that MTA could rebuild billboards on its property, even though this is against California law (5405.6 Business and Professional Code, enacted Oct. 2001). When this was brought to their attention, Allvision insisted that the signs could be rebuilt. It wasn't until the California State Outdoor Advertising Association provided a letter from Senator Richard Polanco, (who wrote SB 919 that resulted in the law), as well as an analysis from the Legislative Council informing the City that Allvision finally agreed their assertion was wrong. Repeated attempts by the public to examine and have input on the proposal were rejected out of hand. "Public" input was only solicited at private, membership -based meetings, such as the Chamber of Commerce. No public town hall forums were ever held. Representatives of the