San Rafael Initiative Launched for Public Funding of Political Campaigns
Campaign coffers could be stuffed with taxpayer dollars under an initiative being launched Monday in San Rafael.
Marin Clean Elections seeks public funding of campaigns for public office in the city. San Rafael is the only charter city in Marin, and state law allows for public financing only in charter cities.
The effort is being spearheaded by Moira Brennan, Northern California director of the California Clean Money Campaign. Her position with the state group is paid, but Brennan said she is also organizing the effort because San Rafael is her home. She is working on similar efforts in San Francisco and Oakland.
The idea is to level the playing field, attract people who might not otherwise run and "allow candidates and elected officials to spend their time serving the public, not courting donors," organizers said.
Organizers said they will spend the summer educating the community before approaching the City Council with a proposal this fall. A kickoff party is set for 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall at 1400 Fifth Ave.
Brennan said reform in San Rafael is overdue.
"I think it's clearly the influence of big money and whether it's big-money donors or big-money special interests, it is a problem in our electoral system," she said.
Clean elections systems are already in place in seven states and Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque, N.M. Voters in Santa Fe, N.M., recently approved the program.
The programs are typically fee-based, supporters said. In Arizona, the system is financed through fees attached to civil and criminal penalties. Connecticut pays for the program by auctioning off unclaimed property.
While the program could take many forms, proponents envision a system in which a candidate collects seed money to set up before going to the public to collect signatures and $5-per-person contributions.
Once they qualify for the ballot, participants in the clean-money program would sign a contract vowing not to accept outside money before receiving the public funds - estimated to be about $45,000 for a council race.
If the candidate were running against a traditionally funded opponent, the clean-money candidate would receive matching funds up to a cap, supporters said.
Brennan said the program is "the only reform that can reduce the influence of independent expenditures," or money not subject to campaign finance law in support of a candidate as long as its backers do not coordinate activities with the candidate.
Brennan's husband, Jonathan Frieman, an active member of the publicly financed campaign movement who sits on the California Clean Money board, has frequently funded independent expenditure committees in past elections. Efforts included "hit pieces" against San Rafael City Council candidate and former fire chief Bob Marcucci, and Joe Nation, who lost his June bid for state Senate.
Frieman said he sees no conflict between the two stances.
"I've been involved in publicly funded campaigns for probably five or six years, if not longer - I know that they can bring about great change in our culture of voting and in the jurisdictions that run publicly funded campaigns," he said. He said he also has supported independent expenditure committees because "I want to be able to help get the people in office who would perhaps bring about this change."
Freshman Councilman Greg Brockbank is a longtime supporter, currently serving as chair of the Marin working group of the California Clean Money campaign.
"I think that the reason there were so few candidates running for City Council last fall is because people are afraid to have to raise what's a bunch of money," he said, noting that in Novato, the average council race runs upwards of $80,000.
"That's where San Rafael is headed in the next few years if we don't do something," Brockbank said.
Barbara Heller, a 15-year member of the council, said the idea is promising but so far lacks depth.
"My problem is, where do these funds come from?" she said. "People just don't have a concept really of what the expenses are when you are sitting there trying to put together one mailing for 5,000 people, it's almost $5,000 - just buying the mailing list is hundreds of dollars. My problem is if you're asking the taxpayers to pay for the election, what are we going to give up?"
IF YOU GO
The Marin Clean Elections campaign kickoff party is 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall at 1400 Fifth Ave. For more information, visit www.marinclean elections.org.
See the article on Marin Independent Journal website
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