May 31, 2005

Public-financed elections make sense
   Phil Stanford notwithstanding, our City Council should be applauded for taking a courageous stand on opening up elections to a diverse community of candidates (When Bix bites, some will bite back, On the Town, May 10).
   Hooray for them for standing up for the common man, and shame on Stanford for making fun of this process.
   Rita Fawcett
   Northwest Portland

 City Council made a bold decision
   I’m thrilled for Portland to have “voter-owned elections.”
   In the past, a small number of well-financed candidates dominated elections. Public financing allows candidates to enter the game with a greater variety of viewpoints and messages.
   To open the field in this way took real guts on the part of the commissioners who voted 4-1 in favor of voter-owned elections.
   City Council support for this ordinance was built on months of deliberation and thousands of comments from constituents.
   Reasoning and study do not always prevail in politics, so another reason the commissioners are gutsy is that they, as incumbents, will face candidates with a real chance of getting their message to voters in the next election. Public funding erases the unfair fundraising advantage that incumbents currently have.
   The money doesn’t come for free. Mayoral candidates have to show that they have earned a spot on the ballot by collecting more than 1,500 $5 contributions, and candidates for commissioner and auditor have to collect 1,000 $5 contributions.
   I’m proud that the City Council is making history as it is enacts a first-in-the-nation system of full public funding for city election campaigns.
   Marian Drake
   Northeast Portland