Election mailers: Disinformation is rampant in Puyallup

As a Puyallup City Council member, I was surprised to see an election mailer about tax increases that attempts to mislead voters about one of my colleagues.

In the midst of a pandemic, state Rep. Chris Gildon’s supporters independently spent $160,000 (as of Wednesday) on five mailers in a deliberate disinformation campaign. (In fairness, independent expenditures may not be made in coordination with the candidate – by law, and in theory.)

The facts or context don’t seem important for supporters of Gildon’s state Senate campaign. Councilwoman Julie Door was excused from the meeting when the “Death Tax” was approved. The sales tax vote was to accept a rebate from the state for affordable housing.

But wait, I have another colleague running for state office. Did Cyndy Jacobsen get the same disinformation campaign against her? Nope, in fact she collected thousands of dollars for her House campaign from these same donors.

Did she vote differently? Nope again.

Our City Council works to keep Puyallup taxes as low as possible. In the past ten years we have fully funded the city’s budget stability account and lowered residents’ taxes by 25%.

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Election mailers: Disinformation is rampant in Puyallup."