Irvine Community News & Views

This is a fake newspaper that is actually political literature. The publisher lives in Carmel, where he has served as principle officer for Planning 2020, an organization that uses unlimited campaign funds to support partisan candidates, including his old political ally Larry Agran.
The OC Register said this about Irvine Community News and Views when it first appeared:
«…in an interview Friday, Lunding said that the weekly publication is both a newspaper and a political slate mailer, whose first issue was funded by contributions from Agran and his fellow „Keep Irvine Great“ political slate, made up of Councilman and mayoral candidate Sukhee Kang, current Mayor and council candidate Beth Krom and council candidate Todd Gallinger. Lunding is a long-​time Agran friend and a former appointee to the city’s transportation commission.»
Just last year, even Agran admitted that this publication was a slate mailer. Again, from the OC Register:
«Agran said he advertises in the publication, which he calls ‘both a slate mailer and a newspaper.’»
Don’t be fooled! This isn’t a newspaper!

I have three complaints about this publication. (1) They shared my name and address with a political candidate (2) They don’t disclose these practices (3) They are misleading as to who they are.
SHARING MY NAME & ADDRESS WITH A POLITICIAN
After getting this «community newspaper», I completed an online survey to support low-​growth in Irvine. That caused me to be added to candidate Mary Ann Gaido’s mailing list, one of the people supported and praised in the publication and one of the candidates explicitly endorsed with a ballot box check mark next to her name (paid for by Gaido).
I’ve never before received personal mail from any candidate but her fundraising letter was addressed to me personally, at my address. There’s no way she could have obtained my mailing address except that this mailer (Irvine Community News & Views) shared it with her when I completed the survey. That caused me to get on other political mailing lists, also addressed to me personally.
NO DISCLOSURE OF (ANTI-​) PRIVACY PRACTICES
There is no disclosure that completing their online survey will get your name and address shared with political candidates. When you go to their website, and click Contact Us, there is no phone number disclosed, only emails. On the same page, there is a link to «Privacy & Terms» but it’s not linked to the privacy policy of Irvine Community News & Views. Instead, that link goes to the generic Google privacy policy. So it looks like they have a privacy policy when the reality is that they don’t.
MISLEADING
The publisher and editor is Franklin J. Lunding. The Orange County Register describes Lunding as «a long-​time friend» of Larry Agran, one of the candidates praised by the publication and endorsed along with Gaido with the ballot box check mark next to his name. The OC Register also reported in a 2009 article that Lunding had moved to Carmel Valley, but apparently he keeps involved with Irvine. Must have a lot of spare time and money on his hands.
Based on a few articles by the OC Register, Lunding and Agran sound like they are actually on the opposite side of slow growth. Check out:
On the inside page of the publication, there is a disclosure that says,“Irvine Community News & Views is a community newspaper and is published by Irvine Community News & Views, LLC, a slate mailer organization established under the laws of he State of California, registered with the California Secretary of State, and licensed to do business in the City of Irvine.” It sounds odd that it can claim to be BOTH a community newspaper and a slate mailer. Even if this is legal, Lunding and Agran don’t sound like they are who they claim to be.