Diligent Defenders of Democracy ~
Its time to pour on the pressure. We need tons of email to the
swing Supervisors immediately, letting them know that we don't want to
see the public campaign financing fund raided.
As expected, we found out yesterday that this will indeed pass out of
Budget Committee to the full Board of Supervisors, so we'll need to win
the fight there. Over a dozen of us spoke eloquently at the Budget
hearing, and then visited Supervisors offices en masse. It made a
strong impression, but we need much more. This will go to the full
Board on July 22, just over a week from now. Right now, it seems we
have 4 votes, and we'll need to get to 6.
Media on this issue:
Our
op-ed in the Guardian
BeyondChron
article
Examiner
Article
Contact the swing Supervisors! (and BCC me or let me know you've
called)
Let them know that they should oppose the proposal to raid the public
campaign financing fund (see more detailed talking points below)
Gerardo Sandoval
554-6975
gerardo.sandoval@sfgov.org
Bevan Dufty
bevan.dufty@sfgov.org
554-6968
Sophie Maxwell
sophie.maxwell@sfgov.org
554-7670
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Would result in severe
underfunding for future races
According to Ethics Commission spending projections, were this proposal
to pass and the funds not be returned at a later date, the 2011 mayoral
race would be $1.5 million - $4.3 million short of the $6 million
minimum needed for a mayoral race, assuming the program receives full
funding in upcoming years and that there are no additional raids on the
fund.
Don't sweep this under the rug
In order to make up the shortfall would require a $3.3 - $6
million appropriation to the program in 2010. With no
prospects of an improving budget situation, this is unlikely to occur,
and if does, will be an even greater strain on the budget. This
proposal doesn't create new money, it simply moves it around in a way
that will create further problems in the future.
Sets a dangerous precedent
The logic of taking money out of the
fund based on a budget shortfall will leave the program bankrupt. With
budget shortfalls likely to continue into the near future, even if no
more money is removed, it's unlikely that the program would receive
full appropriations, plus the necessary supplementals.
It's also poor public policy to have sitting
politicians setting the specific level of funding for public campaign
funding programs on an annual basis,
since in general, publicly funded elections threaten incumbents by
enabling less well-financed competitors to compete on a level playing
field. Opening the door to this now will likely lead to renewed
proposals to raid the fund on an annual basis.
No guarantee of return of the funds
Nothing short of a Charter Amendment approved by voters can legally
guarantee the return of the funds, since the Charter grants budget
authority to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors. An amendment to the
Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance has no legally binding mechanisms as
it relates to budgetary matters.
Much larger cut than other programs
The $5 million cut is equivalent
to 2.5 years of funding for this program, or a 250% cut. In fact, the
$1.8M appropriated this
year is already about 10% short of what the formula suggested in the
Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance recommends.
Public campaign financing saves money in the long run
By reducing the pay-to-play dynamic, where politicians feel
incentives to give costly legislative favors to campaign contributors,
public campaign financing saves far more than it costs in the long run.
Our organization found $70 million in media-documented giveaways to
campaign contributors in the space of just a few years, before the
public funding program went into effect. Check out our examples:
http://voterownedelections.org/save_money.html
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Robert Arnow
San Franciscans for Voter Owned Elections
www.voterownedelections.org
415-552-2229