{"id":426,"date":"2018-06-19T01:36:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T01:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/"},"modified":"2018-06-19T01:36:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T01:36:15","slug":"will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the Los Angeles Ethics Commission Commit to a Stronger Campaign Public Financing System?"},"template":"","class_list":["post-426","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"This Tuesday, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission is expected to vote on new recommendations to city campaign finance laws. But after all the talk and all the studies, it\u2019s not even clear that they will be discussing a ban on corporate donations or a boost to public financing.","featured_image":null,"article_type":183,"authors":null,"related_issues":[104,116,431],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"This Tuesday, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission is expected to vote on new recommendations to city campaign finance laws. But after all the talk and all the studies, it\u2019s not even clear that they will be discussing a ban on corporate donations or a boost to public financing.\r\n\r\nIt is time that LA City commits to a public financing program that matches six public dollars to every private dollar raised from actual human residents. We know from studies of other major cities that boosting the match rate will reduce the influence of wealthy special interests in local elections and incentivize campaigns to actually talk to constituents, and not just chase deep-pocketed donors.\r\n\r\nThe Ethics Commission meeting is at 9:30am, June 19, at Los Angeles City Hall, Room 1050. You can find the agenda here:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ethics.lacity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180619-Agenda.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/ethics.lacity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180619-Agenda.pdf<\/a>.\r\n\r\nBelow is a letter of support California Common Cause is sending to the Commission:\r\n\r\nLos Angeles Ethics Commission\r\n\r\n200 North Spring St.\r\n\r\nCity Hall, 24th Floor\r\n\r\nLos Angeles, CA 90012\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>To the LA Ethics Commissioners:<\/strong>\r\n\r\nOn behalf of California Common Cause, we appreciate the LA Ethics Commission\u2019s efforts to examine potential changes to Los Angeles\u2019 campaign public financing program. At the April general meeting, the Commission asked a number of important questions for which we have provided our recommendations below.\r\n\r\nThat said, we are extremely concerned that the Commission may be abandoning the previous commitment to a public process that would strengthen the public financing program, and instead only examine changes that would reinforce incumbent advantage. There has been growing storm of public anger around special interest money flowing to city officials \u2013 to only focus on how to allow candidates to raise more money from private donations ignores the warning signs. We strongly urge the Commission re-commit to considering the entire range of reforms that would restore public trust in our city elected officials.\r\n\r\n<u>Matching Funds Rate<\/u>\r\n\r\nWe strongly support raising the current match rate to 6:1 for both the primary and general elections. This rate would put Los Angeles on par with cities such as New York and Berkeley and counties such as Montgomery County, MD. Boosting the rate will have a positive impact of incentivizing candidates to communicate with a broader and more diverse base of constituents in neighborhoods across the city, instead of focusing only on the wealthiest of donors.\r\n\r\n<u>In-District Contribution Requirement <\/u>\r\n\r\nWe strongly support a requirement that candidates raise a certain number of contributions within their districts (for City Council) or within the city of Los Angeles (Citywide candidates). Candidates must demonstrate some basis of support within their communities. We are open to considering an adjustment of the total number of in-district contributions required from 200 residents to a different number.\r\n\r\n<u>Qualifying Signature Requirement\u00a0 <\/u>\r\n\r\nWe strongly recommend eliminating the requirement that candidates gather an extra 500 signatures to qualify for the full matching funds. This additional requirement does nothing to encourage constituent contact as most campaigns simply pay signature-gatherers.\r\n\r\n<u>Debate Participation Requirement<\/u>\r\n\r\nWe strongly support the requirement that candidates participate in a town hall or debate before receiving matching funds.\r\n\r\n<u>Increasing the Per-Candidate Maximum Amounts<\/u>\r\n\r\nWe strongly support increasing the total amount of matching funds given to qualifying candidates, following Ethics\u2019 staff recommendations, adjusted for CPI. However, we suggest rounding up the numbers slightly for the following offices:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>City Council: Primary - $175,000; General - $200,000<\/li>\r\n \t<li>City Controller: Primary - $450,000; General - $525,000<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nFor City Attorney and Mayor, we agree with the numbers proposed by Ethics staff.\r\n\r\n<u>Restrictions on Developer Contributions<\/u>\r\n\r\nWe agree with Councilmember David Ryu that a ban on contributions from developers would be a positive step toward reforming our elections, opening them up to a broader array of candidates, and developing a more even playing field for candidates of varying economic backgrounds.\r\n\r\nIn the event that such a ban is found to be difficult to administer, we strongly recommend a clean ban on all non-individual contributions, similar to the federal ban and San Diego\u2019s ban.\r\n\r\n<u>Contributor Certification<\/u>\r\n\r\nWe support the idea that campaign donors should be required to sign a form attesting to their contribution, whether that be a paper form or online form. Not only would this provide some accountability to the system, but also protect contributors and candidates alike. And such a form would make it easier for Ethics staff to track contributions if there later on there is a complaint.\r\n\r\n<u>Conclusion<\/u>\r\n\r\nCalifornia Common Cause urges the Ethics Commission to consider stronger and more equitable approaches to Los Angeles\u2019 campaign finance system. We believe such changes will increase voter participation in local elections, broaden the kinds of donors who contribute and encourage more people of various economic backgrounds and political views to run for office.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\nSylvia Moore, Southern California Organizer\r\n\r\nCalifornia Common Cause"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Will the Los Angeles Ethics Commission Commit to a Stronger Campaign Public Financing System? - Common Cause California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will the Los Angeles Ethics Commission Commit to a Stronger Campaign Public Financing System?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/articles\/will-the-los-angeles-ethics-commission-commit-to-a-stronger-campaign-public-financing-system\/\",\"name\":\"Will the Los Angeles Ethics Commission Commit to a Stronger Campaign Public Financing System? 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