Argus Courier endorsement of Measure R
Campaign finance reform: yes on R
September 22, 2004With the disturbing trend of big money being spent in recent municipal elections, it is important to find ways to lessen the impact that money has on the outcomes of elections and influencing council decisions.
It's important to have a level playing field in our local elections, in order to make running for office affordable to all, to reduce the need for candidates to raise massive amounts of money, and to encourage more citizen involvement in local politics.
To that end, the Argus-Courier urges a yes vote on Measure R, the campaign finance initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The measure is a needed reform to a hastily-enacted amendment of the city's existing campaign finance ordinance last year. The original ordinance, also hastily adopted after the 2000 election, included a $200 cap on individual contributions to City Council candidates as well as a public financing component. Last year's amended ordinance boosted the limit to $500 and eliminated the public financing. Measure R would return the limit to $200 limit on donations and place a $24 limit on donations that can go unreported. There would be no public financing of campaigns.
The original measure was enacted in response to what was then a record amount of money spent in the 2000 City Council race. The eight candidates in that election raised a total of $144,000, led by Councilman Bryant Moyni-han's $47,799 campaign coffer.
In 2002, the eight candidates for council and mayor collected more than $206,000 in contributions -- a 43 percent increase over 2000. Councilman Mike Harris spent a record $50,392 to get elected.
Unfortunately, there is no indication that a campaign finance ordinance will change this trend. The record spending by candidates in the 2002 council race came while the original ordinance -- with a $200 cap on donations -- was in place. There are ways to circumvent the ordinance, such as dividing up large contributions among multiple individuals, but that would be more difficult to do with a $200 limit instead of a $500 cap.
The California Supreme Court has ruled that caps on individual contributions are legal, but that no government agency can legally cap the total amount that a candidate spends on his or her campaign.
Still, any campaign finance reform is a good thing. Measure R is a step in the right direction of open, representative government that will be good for the public interest. It has the support of council members, the grassroots advocacy group Petaluma Tomorrow (which put the initiative on the ballot), the League of Women Voters and Common Cause. We recommend a yes vote on Measure R.
© 2004 Argus Courier