Attack Ads A Hot Topic At Mayoral Debate Powers Attacks, Talbott Defends Ads Paid For By Third Party
Negative campaigning took center stage as the candidates for strong mayor faced off at a Chamber of Commerce forum Friday.
While most of the debate dwelled on conventional subjects such as streets and the economy, on several occasions Mayor John Talbott and John Powers addressed the controversial ad campaign targeting Powers mounted by Citizens for Fair and Open Government.
The ads on television, radio and in mailers make statements about Powers that suggest voters don’t know enough about him, and wouldn’t like him if they did.
In his opening statement, Powers said his campaign and the city were under attack by the ads, but then added he “wasn’t going to go there.”
Not long after, however, he did go there. In a segment of the debate where the candidates questioned each other, Powers asked Talbott how he could lead the community in a positive way when he continues to run negative and misleading ads.
Talbott said the ads weren’t his. “That tells you what sort of research Mr. Powers does,” he said.
Talbott said that while the ads were paid for by people he knew, they also knew Powers as well or better.
“Maybe that’s why they chose to do what they did,” Talbott said, producing groans from the audience.
CFOG is a political action committee funded by donations from longtime Talbott supporters such as Metropolitan Mortgage and Seattle developer David Sabey. Those donors have not given money to Powers.
When asked by an audience member if the candidates would pledge to renounce attack ads, Powers quickly said he would.
“This hurts our community, it hurts our community badly,” Powers said. “We talk about self-esteem in our campaign. This is the antithesis of that. The attack ads are false and misleading. They are full of innuendo.”
Talbott said he would condemn ads that contained falsehoods but not ads that asked legitimate questions. He also wondered why there was so much fuss about CFOG’s ads, but not about an unsigned editorial in the Journal of Business that urged voters not to support Talbott.
“Just before the primary there was an article that was such a vicious attack on me that if it was true, I can’t imagine that you would have invited me here, but no one said anything about that slam,” Talbott said.
While the candidates generally refrained from directly attacking each other at the forum, Powers did get in a shot when he referred to Talbott’s statement in the city’s voters pamphlet.
In the statement, and at Friday’s debate, Talbott said the city has hired an independent auditor. The city has actually only approved the creation of that office, and won’t hire an auditor until next year, which Powers took pains to point out.
“Mr. Talbott represents to us that we’ve already hired an independent auditor,” Powers said. “I went over to City Hall last week, and I couldn’t find him.”
Talbott didn’t respond directly, and generally stuck to his message of having brought positive change to Spokane.
“There’s a fresh breeze blowing in City Hall,” he said. “We’re well on our way.”