At the Reader, VOSD, and other online venues, a poster using the pseudonyms "Stephen Davis of South Park", and "2muchsense", and "district3voter" has copy/pasted inglorious garbage from Todd Gloria's downtown campaign machine.

Only a cowardly anonymous poster using multiple IDs could claim that Stephen Whitburn has "secret sources of funding" from a "back east" conspiracy of trust funds.

The truth is far more interesting: Stephen Whitburn has always been cautious and frugal, drives an older car and lives in a modest apartment in North Park where he is a member of the planning committee.

Stephen Whitburn had the foresight to resist buying into the real estate bubble. He saved his money instead, knowing he would one day need it for something important. All these years of quietly saving and working hard have paid off, and Stephen Whitburn is leading the race to become our representative on the next City Council.

Now, facing a sudden onslaught of dirty money from downtown insiders flowing into the Gloria campaign, Stephen has no choice but to set his teeth and put his own money into the race. Technically, this is a "loan" to the campaign. But everyone knows that under the rules it's virtually impossible to get this money back...win or lose.

Stephen Whitburn has put his own life savings into a cause greater than himself. We've got to reform San Diego before it's too late.

Meanwhile, in a secret meeting room downtown, Gloria's anonymous backers sneer at communities like Normal Heights and North Park. They want only the downtown insider money to count in this city, like it always has. They want Gloria to continue the culture of corruption and delay, deny, and deceive that has strangled our neighborhoods with rising crime, decaying infrastructure, and inadequate transportation.

• Stephen Whitburn will open up the books. He is going to team up with Donna Frye and the new members of the City Council to finally restore credibility to our city.

• Stephen Whitburn doesn't owe favors to downtown developers. You can compare the candidates here:

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/abnormal-heights/2008/sep/18/following-the-money-in-district-3195f3/

• Stephen Whitburn has nothing to do with the insiders like Jack McGrory who have robbed our city of public trust:

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/abnormal-heights/2008/oct/25/jack-hearts-todd/

• Stephen Whitburn is slandered by frightened anonymous posters because he'll dissolve the CCDC and SEDC, where expensive and embarrassing scandals continue to this day:

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/abnormal-heights/2008/sep/16/disolve-ccdc-and-sedc/

You can see why the downtown insiders are so desperate that they'll do or say anything to promote their boy Gloria. Their well-paid campaign flunkies are sent out with orders to spread lies and rumors online using pseudonyms so they can't be held accountable.

I use my real name when I write online because I stand behind my words. Posters like the fraudulent "Stephen Davis from South Park" with his many identities can never be trusted to tell you what they really believe.

When Stephen Whitburn is elected to the City Council, the secretive insider's days of controlling our wealth and power are numbered. I stand up with Stephen Whitburn in telling the truth and being open about who we are and what we believe in.

• That's why I'm voting for Stephen Whitburn.