DEAR PROBE
Q There are two billboards advertising the services of the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office — one on Dogwood by the Imperial Valley Mall and another on Highway 86. It appears that these are nothing more than thinly veiled campaign advertisements for District Attorney Gilbert Otero who is currently running for re-election.
I cannot think of any reason why there would need to be a taxpayer-funded giant billboard advertisement for a district attorney’s office. I have never see one before in this county or anywhere else. Similarly, I have never seen an advertisement for the services of a police department, the coroner’s office or the county jail. These are all public service agencies that do not need advertising. The timing here, and the lack of any similar billboards in the past, strongly suggests that taxpayers are paying for Mr. Otero’s campaign advertisements. — Annoyed taxper
A District Attorney Gilbert Otero tells us district attorneys’ offices throughout California do use billboards to advertise services. These counties include San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Alameda counties, to name a few. In addition, many district attorney’s offices throughout California advertise their services using television commercials, he said. “The argument that the advertisements are ‘thinly veiled’ campaign advertisements is entirely without merit and ignores the need to provide services to crime victims in our community,” Otero said. “The billboards do not contain the name of the district attorney and were not funded by Imperial County taxpayers. Rather, they advertise the services of the Victim Witness Assistance Program, which has been a division of the district attorney’s office since 2013.”
The Victim Witness Assistance Program is a separate budget unit and is funded by a grant administered by the California Department of Emergency Services. Outreach projects such as the billboards require prior approval by a Cal OES grant administrator and do not impact the Imperial County general fund. Furthermore, the billboards specifically state that funding is made possible through the U.S. Department of Justice Victims of Crime Act, Otero said.
“There is a need for this outreach because many victims, particularly underserved populations, are reluctant to report crime, are too traumatized to navigate the criminal justice system, and do not know who to turn to when they are victimized,” he said.
Billboards have been used in Imperial County before, Otero said. For instance, Cal OES approved outreach to victims of human trafficking with billboards displaying the hotline numbers. These were displayed from July 2017 through November 2017.
“We have also used billboards to advertise how to report worker’s compensation fraud. These billboards ran from February 2017 to June 2017,” Otero said. “Radio advertisements regarding worker’s compensation fraud also ran during this same time period.” Otero said the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office has no marketing budget and only uses funds designated for certain grants when allowed. Outreach for worker’s compensation fraud is paid by the California Department of Insurance, and prior approval for outreach materials is required.