A letter issued by San Diego State is demanding the SoccerCity campaign “refrain from inaccurate and misleading statements” regarding the university as their campaign approaches its last months before it will be voted on in November.
The letter, written by Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Tom McCarron, called four statements regularly made by the SoccerCity campaign“particularly egregious.” He also requests claims made by the campaign about SDSU be accompanied by the disclaimer, “None of these statements have been validated or endorsed by San Diego State University.”
The letter begins by demanding the SoccerCity campaign stop asserting SDSU’s plan for Mission Valley would “require new student fees or taxpayer funds.” Secondly, the letter said the campaign’s claims that SoccerCity’s proposal saves the university money are misleading. Lastly, McCarron addresses SoccerCity’s claims that their plan makes accomodations for the university and that the university does not seek to pay market value for the land, both of which he claims to be untrue.
In a statement, Friends of SDSU spokesperson Katy Temple said these inaccuracies express the SoccerCity campaign’s disinterest in genuinely supporting the university as an institution.
“It is clear that SoccerCity does not have San Diego State University’s best interests at heart and blocks the University’s growth potential,” Temple said.
Responding to the letter, which was addressed to FS Investors and SoccerCity spokesmen Nick and Mike Stone, Nick Stone said these claims of inaccuracies are not in line with SoccerCity’s interest in expressing the truth.
“Every statement made by our campaign is carefully vetted for accuracy and truthfulness,” Stone said in a statement. “We’ve provided a highly detailed response to SDSU with support for the statements in question. We will continue communicating honestly with the voters about the many benefits our plan provides for all San Diegans.”
In response to the SDSU’s letter, which was sent to SoccerCity officials on Friday, Sept. 21, Stone issued an extensive 12-page letter refuting claims that they were inaccurate in their campaign claims.
“…we remain steadfast in our adherence to factually supportable statements and will continue to work tirelessly to fact check our work before we say things publicly,” Stone said in his letter to McCarron.
