include his photograph. During the years Schiff was a state senator, if
he'd sent a photo-laden newsletter like the one he issued as a
congressman, he'd have been the subject of prosecution.
Frommer has tied his mailings to upcoming events, such as the
"Community Block Party" he's hosting in Burbank May 18. Another mailing
offered a more dubious excuse, the announcement of a new law taking
effect nine months after the literature was sent. It announced that,
beginning in January 2003, residents can pay $1 to put their names on a
"do not call" list maintained by the state attorney general's office and
distributed to telemarketers. With some exceptions, firms that make
unsolicited sales calls to residents on the list are subject to fines and
small claims judgments.
Using a law that's almost a year away to get the assemblyman's name
and title in front of our eyes is even more dubious when one learns the
attorney general is not only unprepared to begin gathering names, but the
months-long process of developing a plan for implementing the new law
won't even begin until next month.
There's a legitimate argument for spending taxpayer funds to give
residents the details on what our representatives are up to. But that
doesn't oblige us to swallow claims that that's the intent behind most of
the mail we're getting from them. Of course, they won't change their ways
until we demand they do so. And if they ever do turn over a new leaf,
we'll probably get an announcement about it in the mail.
