By Camas Frank ~
With a slim majority of City Council support, San Luis Obispo will be taking a deeper look at the legal and operational issues that might come of a “democracy voucher system.”
With Mayor Jan Marx and Councilwoman Carlyn Christianson dissenting, the Council voted 3-2 on March 15 to have the City Attorney’s office keep working on the details of what the proposed public financing option for municipal elections would mean in the 2018 election.
Assistant City Attorney Jon Ansolabehere narrated a presentation on the bare framework of an ordinance that was brought to the Council in August 2015 by District 24 Congressional candidate William Ostrander and his nonprofit democracy advocacy group Citizens Congress.
Ostrander, a Democrat from San Luis Obispo has made campaign finance reform and opposition to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission – better known simply as, Citizens United – a primary focus of his campaign.
He thanked Ansolabehere and City Manager Katie Lichtig for their openness and generosity with their time in a matter that “wasn’t on anyone’s radar until we brought the subject to the Council.”
Given extra time in public comment to speak about the proposal, Michael Latner, associate professor of political science from Cal Poly, among other roles, noted that the cost of giving each voter a $20 voucher to fund the campaign of their candidate of choice would not be as high as initial estimates.
The program as drafted would cut off at $50,000 for each candidate with a maximum projection of 10 candidates running. In the last election cycle the most expensive council races came in under $15,000.
The $20 figure was selected Ansloabehere explained as a meaningful amount to both candidate and voter but well under the amount given out in other established voucher systems – notably Seattle, Wash.
His report summed up the proposal as simply as possible, “The ordinance proposes to amend Chapter 2.40 of the City’s Municipal Code and establish a comprehensive structure to allow public funding of municipal elections via a ‘democracy voucher’ system. This system would allow registered voters to ‘assign’ their $20 democracy voucher to any candidate that elects to participate in this system….A candidate who elects to participate in this program may only use the voucher funds to pay for his or her campaign, and may not receive funds from other sources, with a few exceptions. Candidates who do not elect to participate in the program can continue to receive campaign contributions subject to existing law.”
Ongoing costs to the City could range from $240,500 to $377,440 a year depending on how many candidates and voters participate.
A major ongoing cost of the program would be the resources required from the City Clerk, City Attorney, establishment of an ethics oversight body and other administrative issues.
Councilman Dan Rivoire, the most recently elected addition to the Council, said he was in favor of the program specifically because it would encourage more of a relationship between the candidates and City’s approximately 25,000 registered voters by seeking their support outside of the ballot box as well.
Marx and Christianson disagreed, adding that the election system is ultimately dependent on people actually coming out to vote, regardless of funding mechanism.