Astroturfing For Musk? SpaceX Workers Speak At LA Town Hall For Boring Company Project
LOS ANGELES (CBS SF) – As Elon Musk's The Boring Company looks to build a tunnel to Dodger Stadium, employees at another Musk company may have engaged in "astroturfing" to drum up support for the project.
The possible conflict of interest was discovered by filmmaker Erin Faulk, who attended a public town hall meeting about The Boring Company's proposed tunnel to the stadium Tuesday night.
Following the meeting, Faulk looked into those who spoke at the meeting and found two people who backed the project were employees at SpaceX, which is also owned by Musk.
The two people, identified as Hailey Cockrum and Chris Charhut, also spoke to CBS Los Angeles in support of the project.
IS THIS REAL LIFE pic.twitter.com/TC11INnFEO
— Scafe says wear a gd mask (@erinscafe) August 29, 2018
"Well, it's interesting to, like, look at this project as something that will be done successfully, based on all the previous success Elon has had with all his other projects." Charhut told the station.
"It's really going to get the ball rolling, going to make other areas of the city realize it is capable and probable and profitable. So even just starting small, is in the right direction," Cockrum said.
The Boring Company confirmed to CNET that Cockrum and Chris Charhut worked at SpaceX, but said they were not compensated to attend the meeting.
Faulk later discovered a third person who spoke in favor of the project, Scott Nolan, was a former SpaceX employee.
*whispers* that's three
— Scafe says wear a gd mask (@erinscafe) August 29, 2018
According to Faulk, nine people made public comments about the tunnel project.
About 50 people attended Tuesday night's meeting at the stadium, which has a capacity of about 56,000.
If built, the project would shuttle fans to and from the stadium via using zero-emissions electric sleds through an underground tunnel.
Faulk expressed skepticism about the feasibility of the project, telling CNET, The desperate attempts to show how it's going to help people in Los Angeles are kind of transparent. It has such a narrow scope and use."
Musk, who also owns Tesla, is facing intense scrutiny from regulators and others in recent months over multiple issues, from his Twitter behavior, to the recently abandoned plans of Tesla going private.
KPIX 5 has reached out to Tesla for comment.