The Sunnyvale Sun

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Sunnyvale 'special interests' shrug off reforms

By Stephen Baxter

Some heavy campaign contributors in Sunnyvale said they are unfazed by city leaders' steps toward publicly funded campaigns.

The Sunnyvale City Council's ethics committee is drafting an advisory measure on the November ballot that will gauge voters' interest in campaigns paid for by voters. A publicly funded campaign in Sunnyvale would aim to limit the perceived influence of large campaign contributors such as SUNPAC, the Public Safety Officers Association and the South Bay Labor Council. SUNPAC is a political action committee that broke off from the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce in 2005.

The groups collectively raised more than $200,000 for Sunnyvale candidates in the 2005 election. Some of the groups' leaders indicated they might rely on independent expenditures, often in the form of paid mailers that support or attack candidates without the candidate's knowledge.

"We just want to be able to maintain our free speech and support the candidates that we believe in," said Shawn Ahearn, president of the 198-member Public Safety Officers Association. Many groups said they have the best interests of the city in mind when they support candidates.

SUNPAC chairwoman Fran Hirsch said the group does not expect votes for projects in return for campaign money.

"That's a myth. In my experience, you don't buy politicians. It's simply not the case," Hirsch said.

Craig Dunkerley, the South Bay coordinator for the California Clean Money Campaign, says interest groups select candidates based on shared beliefs.

"You don't have to bribe them because you pre-selected them," Dunkerley said.

The Clean Money Campaign has been working on the Sunnyvale advisory measure with Councilman Chris Moylan and the council's ethics committee. Dunkerley said a publicly funded campaign could allow candidates who gather a number of signatures to receive public financing, which could widen the field.

Public funding, which might cost each voter $3 to $6 in Sunnyvale, could also provide "matching funds." If an interest group sends a flier on a candidate's behalf, equal money could be given to the candidate's opponent to pay for a response. There would be a cap on how much money could be spent.

Opponents of publicly funded campaigns say voter money should not be spent on candidates they don't support.

Mailers also presented problems in Sunnyvale. In the 2005 election, some candidates said independent mailers misrepresented their views.

SUNPAC leaders said they prefer to give money rather than print mailers.

"It skews the process," Hirsch said. "We don't feel that's the way politics should be run, because the candidate should run his campaign." She added, "Anything that group does, [the candidate] can say, 'I don't know anything about it.' That lets candidates off the hook."

Hirsch and Ahearns say their groups' influence is not weighted more than an ordinary voter's because anyone can contact a council member.

Dunkerley, who graduated from Sunnyvale High School, counters that lobbying is not the problem--it's lobbyists' money.

"I don't want them to essentially put their thumb on the scale," he said.

"I've got nothing against corporations or billionaires or unions, but I don't think it's good in a democracy for groups with the most money to decide who gets to run and who gets to serve," Dunkerley said.