The Sunnyvale Sun

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Sunnyvale leaders try to reform rules for campaigns

By Stephen Baxter

Sunnyvale City Council members raised nearly half a million dollars in their campaigns in 2003 and 2005. In races for each of the seven seats, the candidate who spent the most money won.

To fix an election system that some residents say is stacked in favor of the biggest fundraisers, the council is considering some campaign reforms.

On the November ballot, where voters will choose four council members, there will be an advisory measure on publicly funded campaigns. The measure will be non-binding, and ask whether candidates should be given tax money for campaigns rather than having to raise it themselves, potentially freeing them from the perceived influence of big donors.

Sunnyvale would be the first city in California to have publicly funded campaigns, and it would follow Albuquerque, N.M. and Portland, Ore.

"I think maybe we should check in with our taxpayers on that," said Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton, who proposed the advisory measure at the council's March 6 meeting. She also asked an ethics committee to look at how to pay for a publicly funded campaign without dipping into the city's general fund.

The council also discussed voluntary limits on campaign contributions and expenditures, as five Santa Clara County cities have.

Mandatory limits on contributions and expenditures may face legal hurdles.

Federal courts have struck down campaign spending limits, in part because they limit a candidate's First Amendment right to free speech. Limiting campaign contributions has been deemed legal by the U.S. Supreme Court as long as the limits allow for a meaningful campaign.

Sunnyvale Vice Mayor Tony Spitaleri spent more than $100,000 in his 2005 campaign--double what most other candidates spent--and he said the figure amazed him.

"The costs are going up, and there are less people who have time to walk precincts," he said. Fewer people have time to do campaign work, he said, and most would rather write checks. Most campaign money in Sunnyvale is spent on mailers, and the growing popularity of absentee ballots have driven up those costs.

Council members said they timed their first mailer with the absentee ballots' mailing, and they sent another around the week of the election. Sending two or more mailers costs tens of thousands of dollars.

Hamilton spent $47,715 on her 2003 campaign, and nearly all of it went to postage, she said. Councilman Chris Moylan said he sent four rounds of fliers in 2005, and spent $47,655.

Large donors such as the Public Safety Officers Association, the South Bay Labor Council and the Sunnyvale Political Action Committee (SUNPAC) have bankrolled many campaigns along with individual donors, and residents have accused council members of being beholden to them.

Publicly funded campaigns are intended to free candidates from spending excessive time fundraising so they can focus on issues and dampen the perception that donors will influence their votes.

But the system isn't perfect.

City programs would be weakened with less money, and big donors would almost certainly sidestep the law with independent expenditures. Independent expenditures are made on a candidate's behalf without a candidate's knowledge. Groups have mailed their own fliers supporting candidates, sometimes skewing issues or making accusations aboutother candidates.

Hamilton said she was "horrified" at messages sent on her behalf in the 2003 campaign, and Mayor Otto Lee called independent expenditures "a disturbing trend."

On top of that, a federal court recently overturned San Jose's rules on independent expenditures, which the court said infringed on free speech rights. Members of the Sunnyvale City Council said they worry that litigation will tie up city money at a time when its budget situation may be improving.

A state ballot measure on publicly financed campaigns also failed overwhelmingly in November.

Last week, a 4-3 council vote directed the ethics committee to draft an advisory measure for the November ballot, with Councilmen John Howe, Ron Swegles and Vice Mayor Tony Spitaleri dissenting. The committee will also explore voluntary limits on campaign spending.

Hamilton said she would love to have a publicly funded election. Fundraising takes too much time, she said, and she hoped to improve participation in city elections as other cities have.

Roughly 128,000 people live in Sunnyvale, and about 55,000 were registered to vote in the 2005 city council election, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

Fewer than 29,200 people voted.