Cox Ad Campaign to Spur Mesa, Ariz., Customers to Oppose Fee Hike Gets Results.

By Ed Taylor, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 17--An advertising campaign by Cox Communications designed to mobilize its customers to oppose a proposed fee increase in Mesa has triggered in a flood of telephone calls and e-mail messages to Mesa officials. About 40 telephone calls came into the city's administrative offices on May 9, the morning the advertisements appeared in local newspapers, and more than 75 e-mails have been sent to Mayor Keno Hawker in the past week.

The vast majority of the messages support Cox and oppose the city's plans, which Cox says would increase the tax portion of their Mesa customers' bills by 50?percent. In exchange for getting a 15-year extension of its license to operate in the city, Mesa officials want Cox to provide more …