"I'm so appalled by how this kind of garbage can be perpetrated on the public," he said. "Beware scare tactics that come out the last week of a campaign from anonymous writers."

Runyon said a third mailer should arrive in District 5 mailboxes today or Monday.

Clark repeatedly denied any link to the ads. On Friday, he expressed relief when told Runyon had contacted the newspaper and also named John and Dana Wright as members of the PAC.

"I never heard of these people," Clark said. "This clears me. Oh, man, that makes me happy. Thank you. I'm just a guy running a campaign trying to give people a different option."

Runyon said Utahns for a Better Future is composed of fiscally conservative residents who believe the city needs a "fresh innovative approach to the issues facing" Provo.

He said the next mailer is about subsidized housing. Cindy Richards is a political force behind Provo's purchase-rehab program. The program uses federal tax dollars to purchase run-down homes and rehabilitate them. The city then sells the homes, usually for less than the costs of the purchase and rehab.

Another program provides subsidies to first-time homebuyers who purchase these and other central Provo homes. Richards, a majority of the council and city administrators say using federal tax dollars this way is worth it because the homes are sold to single families who stabilize Provo's downtown or "pioneer" neighborhoods.

Opponents have argued the private sector should handle the problem.

The PAC's call for change in the city's political makeup is in step with the challengers in Provo's races. Most of the hundreds of signs dotting the city are laid out in groups with incumbents Richards and Mayor Lewis Billings grouped with former Mayor George Stewart, who is seeking a citywide council seat. The signs of their respective challengers — Clark, Dave Bailey and Mark Sumsion — are usually clustered together, too, none more so than on the corner of 200 North and 200 West (Freedom Boulevard), where Clark, Bailey and Sumsion signs and banners plaster a building across the street from Billings campaign headquarters and its two Billings billboards.

Residents who want more information on the candidates can tune into Provo Cable Channel 17 or check the candidates' Web sites.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com