Five years ago, I wrote a column about the two kinds of “special interests”: money and ideas. Idea interests, ranging from wildlife to pro-life, are motivated by their beliefs, not by profits. Their income doesn’t depend on the political outcome. “Money
interests are different”, I maintained. “While people get into businesses for a
wide range of reasons, they have one common need: to earn money. Nothing wrong
with that. But sometimes the need to keep making money, whether it’s a
subsistence paycheck or a seven-figure capital gain, overshadows any other
interest they had in the job. With so much invested in that line of work, they
can become dependent on it, and try to prolong it, even when facing evidence
that the work is “wrong livelihood.”
What we end
up with is a self-perpetuating political cash feedback loop. Campaign
contributions and lobbying lead to politicians and policies that enable higher
profits for the contributors and lobbyists. For a while this political incest
seemed to be limited to Washington and Sacramento, where George Bush and Gray
Davis raised it to rock star performance levels. But in the two Council elections
since I wrote the column, big money and professional hit-piece campaigning have
come to Petaluma, benefiting candidates described as “pro-business.”
Before I go
any further, let me address the claim that Council members getting big donations
from land development interests are “bought” by those contributors. This is a straw
man argument from campaign finance reform opponents, and it misrepresents the problem.
Local candidates with heavy developer backing are not “for sale.” That’s an
insult to candidates and contributors. Rather, they come into the election with
certain beliefs regarding private property rights and the role of government. These values drive decisions that shift
development impacts and mitigation expenses toward the general public and
future generations. Developers who share those values will naturally support
those candidates as best they are allowed.
The
resulting abundance of development money has tipped the playing field against
candidates who want development to provide more community benefit. To re-level that
field, the City Council in 2001 enacted a Campaign Finance Reform ordinance
putting restrictions on contributions and providing public financing. But CFR was
effectively repealed last summer -- in a surprise move that completely reversed
the direction of many hours of careful public and council discussion -- by the
four council members receiving the largest contributions from developers –
Moynihan, O’Brien, Harris, and Canevaro.
Citizen
supporters of CFR are responding. Volunteers from Petaluma Tomorrow, a local
advocacy group, are hitting the streets with an initiative campaign to bring an
improved version of CFR back to Petaluma. The individual contribution cap is
dropped from $500 back to $200. The reporting threshold, presently allowing secret
contributions up to $99, is dropped to $25 (it was $.01 in the 2001 ordinance).
Unlike the 2001 measure, which could be overturned by four council members, amendments
to this ordinance require either a majority public vote, or a unanimous vote of
the Council (which could be used for non-controversial “housekeeping” amendments.)
It eliminates the ambiguity about applicability to incumbents, a loophole exploited
by Moynihan during the last election cycle. Finally, it returns the reporting
threshold for independent expenditures (i.e. “soft money” not controlled by a
candidate) from $99 to $25, and requires the author to be identified. No more
anonymous hit pieces.
It’s
unfortunate, but understandable given the current fiscal climate, that the
public financing provisions would not be restored. Here’s an inexpensive alternative: the City
should put up and widely publicize a PetalumaVoter.gov website -- a real-time equivalent of the ballot
statement -- and post candidate responses to those awful final week hit pieces.
If you’re
not happy with the direction of American and Petaluman democracy, sign the CFR
initiative. Find out more at petaluma-tomorrow.org