Willow Glen Resident

News

Council asks for publicly funded campaigns in 2008

By Monica Heger

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously to pursue publicly funded campaigns to increase diversity in public offices and give voters more control over elections.

At the April 18 city council meeting, the council directed the elections commission to study the feasibility of having publicly funded, or "voter-owned," elections. The proposal would eliminate political fundraising and private contributions from campaigns. The goal is for the elections commission to bring a plan to the council by August that will be implemented in the 2008 elections.

"For less than a penny a day, voters can have full assurance that their elected officials are working for them," said Mayor Ron Gonzales, who announced such a proposal at a press conference in March. Using Gonzales' calculations, the city would collect an estimated $2 million a year for campaigns, or less than $4 per person.

Campaign fundraising has been an issue from local council elections up to presidential elections. In San Jose, the fundraising cap for mayoral candidates is $708,643; for a council seat, it ranges from $90,000 to $98,000. Even though San Jose allows donations of only $500 for mayoral candidates and $250 for council candidates, Gonzales said there remains a strong perception that campaign contributions control policy decisions at city hall.

Those we addressed the council were enthusiastic about the idea.

"Public financing allows elected officials to cleanly represent the public," said Ed Rast, president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association.

"I really want to see all of our public officials freed up from this endless fundraising," said Craig Dunkerly, who has been working on the California Clean Money Campaign. "Elections should be a contest of ideas, not a contest of money."

Aside from giving candidates more time to spend with constituents and less time fundraising, Gonzales said publicly funded campaigns would also allow for more diverse candidates.

Citing Arizona as an example of a state that now has publicly funded campaigns, Gonzales said, "more women and minorities have run for office, and more have been elected to office."

Despite the warm reception the proposal received from both council members and the public, concerns about candidate qualifications and how the program would be funded were raised.

"There are all sorts of candidates the public doesn't want to spend money on," said councilman and mayoral candidate Chuck Reed.

In order to deal with the issue of making sure only viable candidates run for office, the elections commission will look at the idea of collecting a minimum amount of signatures and small donations--such as $5 each from 1,500 people.

Money is always an issue with a city facing a $35.9 million budget shortfall. While Gonzales said the cost would be only a penny a day per person, in a city of almost 1 million people, that price quickly adds up.

The elections commission will study different funding possibilities by looking at models in other cities. For example, Los Angeles has an annual appropriation of $2 million for elections.