SAN DIEGO - A candidate for the San Diego City Council District 4 seat knowingly broke the law Wednesday in her effort to spur action.

Sandy Spackman rallied about a dozen volunteers together to fill several potholes in Paradise Hills on Wednesday.

"Instead of talking about it, let's do something about it and this is something we can do," she told 10News.

The "pothole patrol," as they called themselves, would wait for traffic to go by, run out and work until the traffic came by again.

A city of San Diego spokesman told 10News what the group was doing was actually illegal.

"No, they said it was discouraged, highly discouraged. They didn't say illegal," Spackman told 10News reporter Joe Little.

"They told 10News it was illegal," countered Little.

"They did? Well, I didn't know that," Spackman said with a smirk.

The city also said it was dangerous because none of the lanes were closed and it is considered a liability issue.

On top of that, the "pothole patrol" was filling the holes with dirt.

"The best way to be proactive is to inventory the problem and report it. We can't fix the problem unless we know about it," said city spokesman Bill Harris.

Harris added that if the volunteers properly reported the potholes, city crews would fill them in roughly 72 hours.

10News contacted all of the Spackman's opponents in the District 4 race and asked them about her effort to fix the streets.

Tony Villafranca said Spackman is just trying to get attention, adding, "I'm strongly against her stunt, her political grandstanding."

Bruce Williams said he didn't question Spackman's motivations.

The city would not say whether the "pothole patrol" participants would be cited.