By unanimous support of the Ethics Commission, and by a vote of 8-to-3 at the Board of Supervisors, legislation to dramatically improve the Board of Supervisors public campaign financing program passed on Nov. 6, 2007.
- Significantly raises the spending caps and matching levels, which were unrealistically low and were resulting in reduced candidate participation. The spending cap has been raised from $83,000 to $140,000. The matching funds available to candidates have doubled, and in addition, matching continues above the spending cap if it is raised, allowing participating candidates to keep pace with privately financed rivals, resulting in a more level playing field.
- In the past, once the spending cap was broken, even by a little bit, the entire spending cap was eliminated for all candidates. The new rules apply graduated raises so that the spending caps are only raised by as much as they are broken by.
- Takes into account independent expenditures, so that an independent expenditure on behalf of a candidate causes the other candidates' spending caps to be raised by the amount of the independent expenditure, and an independent expenditure against a candidates causes their spending cap to be raised by the amount of the independent expenditure.
The legislation was written and introduced by Chris Daly, co-sponsored by Board President Aaron Peskin, and supported by Ross Mirkarimi, Bevan Dufty, Jake McGoldrick, Tom Ammiano, Sophie Maxwell, and Gerardo Sandoval.
The legislation was opposed by Sean Elsbernd, Michaela Alioto-Pier, and Carmen Chu.
Read about legislation in the Chronicle
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“We
Clean Elections [Voter Owned Elections] pioneers are a
more independent bunch, especially because we’re
not worrying about how we’re going to raise the
big bucks to win our next race. Lobbyists for special
interests tend to spend less time with us, which makes
it easier to get through the Capitol halls in time for
a vote.”
-Glenn Cummings & Ed Youngblood, Maine State
legislators, elected with Voter Owned Elections
“All the trucking companies were in my committee
room. The truckers themselves weren’t there. But
I know I haven’t taken a penny from the companies
and they know that too. None of them have any ownership
of me.”
-Beth Edmonds, Maine Democratic State Senator, elected
with Voter Owned Elections
“It’s tough to get people to give you money.
It’s a lot harder than candidates think initially.
So a lot of our candidates will get 150 contributions,
180 contributions, and then they find that they better
go out there pounding the streets and talking to people
about issues... I really think the program does work well.
I think it does get the candidates out into the community.”
-Tucson City Clerk Kathleen Detrick, talking about the
donations qualifications for Voter Owned Elections in
Tucson
“At first I thought it was too generous. I don’t
think the 4-to-1 rate pertains to every city but, given
the demographics and the size of the population I had
to deal with, I had a lot of people to mail to and I needed
the money.” Cermeli continued, “I think what
they’re trying to do is equalize the playing field,
so that a person like me—who does not come out of
the party machinery, but does represent the public—can
run a competitive campaign.”
-Robert Cermeli, a candidate in the 30th council district
Democratic primary in NYC
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