Generally representing a non-establishment viewpoint, The Independent's editorial coverage became more ambitious and strident as the newspaper grew. In the 1990s for example, The Independent began an "aggressive public awareness and voter education campaign with the goal of raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new state-of-the-art facility" for Laguna Honda Hospital. With political consultant Jack Davis, Independent columnist Warren Hinckle, healthcare union leader Sal Roselli and Public Health Department Director Dr. Mitchell Katz, among others, the "Laguna Honda First" campaign resulted in a $400 million rebuild of the institution as the only publicly funded long-term care facility of its kind in the U.S.
