From the Oct 14 – Oct 20, 1999 issue

News

Public Disservice Announcement

KIRO Pulls Pageler Ad

by Grant Cogswell

LISTENERS TUNING in to KIRO news radio last week heard a seasonal "public service announcement" from Seattle City Light. No, it wasn't a list of safety tips about holiday lighting decorations; it was, according to some listeners, an illegal election ad.

"Hi! I'm Margaret Pageler, chair of the Seattle City Council's Utilities Committee," the spot began. "Our public utilities are the best in the nation...." The ad went on to encourage listeners to feel good about cheap electricity in Seattle (a phenomenon which is primarily due to the public nature of City Light, and the federally funded dams built in the region half a century ago).

The ad, which Seattle City Light spent $11,200 to run, seemed like a Pageler election promo, says Peter Sherwin, a KIRO listener and Eastlake activist who complained to Carol Van Noy at the city's Ethics & Elections office. Sherwin says that using city money to make ads for a city council candidate runs afoul of election law. After the complaint, Van Noy says Seattle City Light "was very cooperative." They immediately changed the voice-over from Pageler to SCL Superintendent Gary Zarker.

KIRO Pulls Pageler Ad