Public Campaign Finance Fund changes

The Citizens Campaign Commission reviewing Portland’s Public Campaign Finance funding system issued its Report (pdf) and recommended changes last Friday. As happened with the Charter Reform Commission’s report, the City Council hearing to discuss it is scheduled just two weeks later – now next week, Thursday, April 26, 3 p.m. Time Certain. Unlike the Charter (heck, it’s only our City’s Constitution, after all), the Council will likely vote to accept the report, without necessarily agreeing to the details it proposes. A second hearing to review and vote on new code language to revise the system has not yet been scheduled, but will probably be in late May.

The Report is 90 pages, with a three page Executive Summary for those seeking the highlights. The core program is left the same: candidates following the rules and collecting 1000 donations of $5 from people who live in Portland (1,500 for Mayor), qualify for $150,000 in public money to run their campaign ($200,000 for Mayor).

I agree with all 14 major revisions proposed by the Commission. The most important include:

1. Removing the “One mistake, you lose” rule. This isn’t the most important change for the program or for Portlanders. But it will help save candidates’ sanity, and as a psychiatric nurse and as someone who may run under the system again, that’s a big deal to me. Under the first-run rules, if I had turned in even one $5 donation from someone who lived one lot on the wrong side of the Portland-Gresham city limits, I would have been disqualified. The new process would not penalize those kinds of mistakes, as long as the candidate turns in 1000 valid $5 donations and signatures by the filing deadline. Tim, Linda, Ed, and I (my team who checked each donation over and over, at least five times for each) appreciate this change soooooooooo much.

Ok, now on to the stuff most people care about.

2. Require donors to be registered voters, thus allowing verification of signatures. Donors may sign the Voter Registration card concurrently with giving $5 – as long as the person is registered by the time qualifying donations are turned in for certification. This reduces the ability of the program to involve new participants – by definition, registered voters are already participating at some level. It may increase voter registration, but raises the bar another notch for candidates. I think the bar may have been set too high last time, since I was the only non-incumbent able to qualify (without cheating). But we’ll see – maybe now the system is known, candidates will find it easier to get donors to turn in their $5s (new word I coined during the campaign: “five dollarses”) and forms.

3. Candidates would be required to turn in at least 300 qualified donations by December 1. Donation forms would be posted on line, and anyone could challenge their validity. If I run again, I might just send ’em to Anna Griffin of the Oregonian first, for pre-certification 🙂

4. Each donor and solicitor signs a much-more specific, triplicate form, stating the purpose of the donation and the understanding of personal liability of $125,000 fines for fraud. I’m considering requesting an amendment to print “Thank you for participating in our democracy”, with a smiley face, right under the line about the $125,000 fine.

5. Change the timeline for gathering of signatures from September 1 – March 31, to July 1 – January 31. Note, the length of time allowed is still the same, seven months. Erik Sten and I both did it in less than three. I proposed the changed schedule, to allow collection of donations over the summer when neighbors are more social, and to set the stage earlier in the endorsement process and high-intensity election run-up in the three months prior to the primary.

BUT, if adopted, this change means incumbents should be honor-bound to declare whether or not they intend to seek re-election, early. Preferably by July 1, but certainly before the end of September. Candidates using the Public Finance Fund must submit 30% of their qualifying donations by December 1, so waiting until late in the fall, or the end of the year, to announce re-election plans, simply doesn’t jive with this program. Both Sam Adams and Tom Potter have said they support it but won’t use it. I urge them to rethink the latter, and I will be disappointed if they don’t participate. But at the very least, I ask Commissioner Adams and Mayor Potter to commit not to sabotage it, which they would do if they delay announcing whether or not there will be one or two open seats. Candidates are required to state which seat they are seeking, before collecting qualifying donations. Randy Leonard has already announced he plans to ask the voters to re-elect him. An open seat offers far more opportunity for a Public Campaign Finance funded candidate to win, compared with challenging an incumbent. Commissioner Adams and Mayor Potter, please announce your plans for the May 2008 primary by July 1, 2007.

And to the entire Council: Please adopt amendments to the Public Campaign Finance program, to make the second run more beneficial to democratic public process in Portland.