Portland takes up campaign financing

Supporters tell commissioners the plan advances the democratic process, but others question if it's the best use of public money

Friday, April 08, 2005

ANNA GRIFFIN

The Oregonian

Advocates of a plan to offer public money to Portland City Council candidates for political campaigns packed City Hall on Thursday to offer two pro-reform but potentially conflicting messages.

They told city leaders that the campaign finance plan proposed by Auditor Gary Blackmer and City Commissioner Erik Sten would open the political process up to younger people and minorities. The financing, they said, would erode the political perks of incumbency and the influence of the city's business elite.

But in making that pitch, the reform advocates say, they don't want the current council to take calls for change too personally.

"This isn't about corruption in Portland," said William McNary, president of U.S. Action, a national network of grassroots progressive groups. "It's about access."

None of the more than two dozen people who spoke Thursday, many of them part of a well-organized network of campaign finance reformers, was flat-out against the idea of public financing. But critics, including leaders of the Portland Business Alliance, said the city needs to slow down, consider the $1.3 million estimated price tag and give Portland voters the right to decide if that's how they want taxpayer money spent.

Sten and Blackmer's proposal, in the works for more than a year, would give $200,000 for a primary campaign, and $250,000 for the general election, to mayoral candidates who collect $5 checks from 1,500 people. Candidates for city commissioner and auditor would need to collect $5 donations from 1,000 people to receive $150,000 in a primary and $200,000 for a general election.

The idea is to lessen the role cash plays in city politics, reduce the amount of time candidates spend fundraising and eliminate the perception that big donors have strong influence over City Council members. In the process, supporters hope to encourage more minority, female and young people to run for city office.

Five states, led by Maine and Arizona, offer some form of public campaign financing. A dozen other cities have adopted less-comprehensive systems, but Portland would be the first city in the nation to give municipal candidates all the money they would need. (If a publicly financed candidate ran against someone who wasn't taking campaign money and their opponent raised more than the city's initial contribution, the city would make up the difference.)

"I'd be the first to tell you I don't believe this is a corrupt City Council, but I do believe the impression of citizens is that money has too much of an impact," Sten said, noting that in past campaigns he's spent as much as 85 percent of his time soliciting large donations. "I hope this is a start of a national movement."

Public financing backers say Portland voters have already indicated their support, twice: In 2000, 57 percent of the city's voters said yes to Measure 6, a statewide measure that would have given public money to political candidates who agreed to limit their campaign spending and not raise private money. Statewide the measure failed.

Last year, former Portland Police chief Tom Potter beat then-Commissioner Jim Francesconi for mayor despite refusing contributions of more than $100. Francesconi raised $1.1 million, compared with Potter's $234,000.

"The voters have said, 'Enough of all this money,' " said Ed Suslovic, a former Maine state legislator who came west to speak for the proposal and about his own experiences running both with and without public funding.

Suslovic described Maine as a sort of campaign finance Shangri-La, where almost 80 percent of legislative candidates used public financing in the most recent elections.

"Tom Potter's success, you could argue, shows that people in Portland are ready and eager for substantive reform," he said. Potter supports Sten and Blackmer's plan, although he said Thursday that he will not use public financing in a re-election bid.

But critics of the campaign change say Potter's win actually shows the that the current system works and that voters already have the power to embrace financial underdogs.

Although Sten appears to have the votes to make public financing a reality as early as next year's City Council elections, questions remain, including the total cost.

Sten and Blackmer estimate public financing would cost $1.3 million the first year, a tiny percentage of the city's total budget. Still, Portland is in the midst of a budget crunch, with the City Council trying to cut $8 million from its 2005-2006 spending plan.

"This is a very expensive experiment," said Cameron Vaughan-Tyler, a lobbyist for the Portland Business Alliance.

City Council members will continue the debate next month.

Anna Griffin: 503-294-5988; annagriffin@news.oregonian.com