Keeping a watchful eye on campaign funds

Money is one thing. Ill will is another.

We already know what the local election has cost in civility and

mutual respect, but we won’t know until January how much candidates

spent to get elected -- not to mention what independent committees

spent for and against candidates.

An independent committee has the constitutional right to spend

what it wants to get the results it wants, despite the rancor it

causes in people who oppose its position. Does that make for an

uneven playing field? Yes. But so does running as an incumbent, or

being willing to invest one’s personal wealth to get elected.

Can you imagine what the local election might have cost if the

council had not rescinded its Oct. 7, 2003 decision to triple the

individual contribution limit to candidates from $250 per election

cycle to $750.

The proposal by Councilman Steve Dicterow, supported by

Councilwomen Elizabeth Pearson and Cheryl Kinsman and opposed by

Mayor Toni Iseman -- Councilman Wayne Baglin was absent -- came out

of nowhere and went back to the same place less than a month later.

“I have found in the last month absolutely no support for my

position,” Dicterow said at the Nov. 4, 2003 City Council meeting,

before rescinding his suggestion.

The council unanimously voted to reduce the limit to $310, which

reflected a consumer price index increase of $60 more than the $250

limit, in place since 1994.

A companion proposal to lower the voluntary spending pledge from

$30,000 to $15,000 was not rescinded. Critics of that change claim

that no one will sign the pledge, which benefits those who have no

intention of limiting their spending.

The real test is not what is spent, but who spent it and what they

expect in return. One voter’s $10,000 contribution may mean no more

to him than another’s $50 donation. Only votes should buy an

election. Every voter should be the accountant and accountable for

being informed.

But until we can rely on each donation to be of honest intent,

it’s nice to see a limit on individual contributions.