Campaign reform gets PR machines rolling
Petition is filed in repeal effort, sparking rally by more supporters of public financing
By JIM REDDEN Issue date: Tue, Aug 23, 2005
A nonprofit organization primarily funded by out-of-state foundations is leading the fight to keep Portland’s new public campaign financing program.
The Money in Politics Research Action Project issued a news release Friday attacking a petition drive to place a measure repealing the program on the May 2006 election ballot.
In the release, Director Janice Thompson said the drive was supported by "big money political donors who want to retain their ability to hand out large campaign contributions to exert influence over who runs for office and who has access to City Hall."
But although Thompson’s organization is based here, only three of the 10 foundations it cites as supporters are located in Oregon -- two in Portland and one in Tigard. The rest are from out of state. They include the Massachusetts-based Piper Fund, which has donated $5 million to campaign finance reform efforts across the country in the past four years.
Thompson defended the out-of-state support, saying most campaigns receive at least some money from outside their boundaries.
"I’m not willing to unilaterally disarm myself," said Thompson, who says the organization’s annual budget is approximately $90,000.
The Money in Politics group describes itself as a "nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization whose goals are to increase accountability and opportunities for participation in politics." Founded in 2000, it is one of many similar organizations in various states working on campaign finance reform measures. Among other things, the organization tracks campaign contributions in state and local races.
Thompson’s organization supported the campaign finance program approved by the City Council earlier this year. The council has set $1.3 million aside for city candidates in the May primary election who qualify for public support.
A coalition of local business leaders filed an initiative petition to repeal the program with the city auditor’s office Wednesday. Coalition campaign manager Laura Imeson defended the initiative as offering local voters an opportunity to say how they want their tax money spent.
"Do Portlanders want their money spent on political campaigns or on police officers, firefighters and other basic services?" said Imeson, a former AT&T lobbyist.
According to Imeson, the coalition includes Scott Andrews, president of Melvin Mark Properties and chairman of the Portland Business Alliance; Fred Chown, president of Chown Hardware in Northwest Portland; Reuel Fish, owner of Urban Wineworks wine store in downtown Portland; Clayton Hering, president of Norris Beggs & Simpson, a commercial real estate brokerage; Wayne Kingsley, chairman of American Waterways Inc.; and Judy Peppler, president of Qwest Oregon and PBA chairwoman-elect.
The coalition needs to collect 26,691 valid Portland voter signatures by Jan. 17 to place a measure repealing the plan on the May 16 election ballot.
Use
of tax dollars questioned
The city’s public campaign finance program will offer as
much as $200,000 to city candidates who qualify by collecting $5 donations
from up to 1,500 people. Candidates will receive up to an additional $40,000
if they are opposed by a political action committee not directly affiliated
with a campaign opponent.
According to Thompson’s news release, individuals and organizations opposed to the new public campaign finance reform program contributed more than $100,000 to Portland campaigns in 2004. They included Hering and Kingsley, who gave a total of $22,850, the release said.
"The big-money donors behind the repeal initiative want to keep Portland politics under the control of a select few political players. That’s not fair, and their initiative will be defeated," Thompson said.
Imeson said the question is whether the city should be spending tax dollars on campaigns at a time when it cannot keep police precincts open on evenings and weekends.
"The public needs to decide whether this money wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere," she said.
The coalition already has had difficulties. After the initiative was filed with the city auditor’s office, the elections division determined that two of the three sponsors -- Chown and Fish -- are not eligible because they do not live inside the city limits. Imeson said she would refile the paperwork by early this week to replace them with qualified sponsors.
"They both have businesses in Portland and pay city taxes, but they live outside the city limits even though they have Portland addresses in Washington County," she said.
According to Imeson, Chown and Fish have resigned as sponsors. They have been replaced by two new sponsors, Chown’s brother and business co-owner, David Chown, and Eva Kripalani, legal counsel for the Knowledge Learning Center, an early childhood education program.
"They both live in Portland," Imeson said.
Public
can vote in 2010
Thompson says the petition drive is not necessary because
the program already includes a provision that will place it on the November
2010 general election ballot.
"The council was sensitive to the fact that this is something new, so they agreed Portlanders should be able to vote on it after they’ve had an opportunity to see how it works," she said.
Imeson notes the program could cost local taxpayers millions of dollars before the 2010 election, however.
"Portlanders should have had an opportunity to say if that’s how they want their money spent first," she said.
According to Thompson, Portland’s plan is similar to other public campaign finance plans in Arizona and Maine. According to a May 2004 paper by professor Kenneth Mayer and his colleagues in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s political science department, both plans have increased the number of candidates running for state legislative offices.
"The effect is most pronounced for challengers, who were far more likely than incumbents to accept public funding," said the paper, titled "Do Public Funding Programs Enhance Electoral Competition?"
