Support A.B. 2949
Letter to the editor
The allegations of "pay to play" politics in the City of Los Angeles and the resignation of fundraiser and Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn supporter Ted Stein are significant because they represent the way things are.
While it is hard to make strong connections between corruption and fundraising, it's clear that those who have the ability to fill campaign coffers have more access to our representatives, and, in the case of Stein, are given opportunities.
But it doesn't have to be the only game in town.
Clean Money, Clean Elections is a campaign finance innovation allowing candidates to run a viable campaign without any campaign fundraising.
Candidates are freed from the sway of lobbyists and can make appointments to commmissions based on merit, not beholdenship.
Clean Election laws have passed in San Francisco and other cities and states, such as Arizona and Maine.
It's time to consider Clean Elections here in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and California.
It gives opportunities for more women and minorities to run.
It opens the door for better democracy. It's the reform that allows all other reforms.
Right now, at the state level, the Assembly Elections Committee is considering Assembly Bill 2949, which would bring Clean Elections to California.
Passing this law would be a bold statement in revitalizing how we govern.
The California Clean Money Campaign at www.CAclean.org has great information.
Like abolishing the poll tax, Clean Elections will help make "pay to play" a thing of the past.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)