The City of San Diego will spend more than $1 million to provide November voters with individual copies of a ballot pamphlet.
With a 2-4 vote Wednesday, the San Diego City Council rejected the idea of putting the lengthy explainers for two ballot measures online.
Several citywide propositions are on the ballot in San Diego including two downtown stadium-oriented issues. Those proposals will need 77 and 119 pages respectively.
On Wednesday, the council considered a proposal that would direct the City Clerk to make copies of the pamphlet on demand for voters who requested the information.
Councilmember Todd Gloria, who proposed putting the printed versions in libraries and online, reacted to the vote via Twitter.
"At a cost of ~$1M, it has to be the most expensive thing ever placed in most San Diegans' mailboxes," Gloria posted.
The San Diego County Tax Payers Association called the decision a "waste of tax dollars. Placing the full text online makes much more sense."
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Councilmember Marti Emerald, one of those who rejected the idea, reportedly feared not providing a paper pamphlet would hurt democracy according to KPBS.
San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said there’s no legal requirement to put the provisions of the stadium-centric measures into text form.
"Some people are going to read the whole thing -- that's good.” he told NBC 7 in an interview Monday. “Some people are going to be offended that it costs too much, and that it's too big. That's what the city council's for and they represent all the people, and they can make that decision."
