News Clips

alifornia’s political watchdog panel deadlocked Thursday over allowing legislative leaders to accept much larger campaign contributions, after several open-government groups said the proposal raises “important concerns” about increasing the influence of special interests.

Special interests could put more money directly into the hands of California legislative leaders, giving them greater influence over campaigns, under a bill unveiled last week as lawmakers left Sacramento for summer recess.

“Generally speaking as a matter of practice, most city council members will recuse themselves on votes that impact their own personal street,” Feng said. “(But) recusal rules only apply when somebody has a direct financial interest.”

“Nothing discloses how much money is going for a bill,” Heidorn said. Unless there is a reportable individual expense, like Dodd’s breakfast, the public is entitled to “absolutely nothing” about meetings between lobbyists and lawmakers, he said.

Sylvia Moore, the Southern California organizer for Common Cause, said at Tuesday’s meeting that if Long Beach were to create a redistricting commission, it would be a “milestone” achievement for California because half of the state’s 10 largest cities would have such a system for drawing districts.“ Long Beach would be a statewide leader in good governance,” Moore said.

A 2016 report by California Common Cause, a democracy advocacy organization, found that 59 of California's 482 cities hold district elections. Twenty-eight of those cities made the switch between 2011 and 2016.