Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "pac"City Council to Throw Out Fair Election OrdinanceWilliam Burgheadline-52552009-03-31T19:04:00Z2009-03-31T19:04:00Z<p>Today's (Tuesday, March 31st) Sacramento city council meeting includes an item on the "consent calendar" (meaning a group of items expected to be non-controversial) that would eliminate portions of Sacramento's campaign finance law. This change would remove any fundraising limits for organizations called "independent expenditure committees" and also raise campaign contribution limits for political candidates.</p>
<p>What is an "independent expenditure committee," you might ask? Wikipedia defines them as: "In elections in the United States, an independent expenditure is a political activity intended to assist or oppose a specific candidate for office which is made without their cooperation, approval, or direct knowledge. Most commonly, this takes the form of advertising. In some cases, independent expenditures may far exceed direct spending by the candidates' campaigns. Groups which frequently make use of independent expenditures include political party committees, political action committees, and 527 groups."</p>
<p>Some examples of "independent expenditure committees" include groups like MoveOn.org or the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (527 groups) or the Democratic National Committee or Republican National Committee (political party committees.)</p>
<p>The full report can be found here:</p>
<p>http://sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=8&event_id=80&meta_id=174038</p>
<p>The reason given for this change is the risk of a court challenge. During the last election cycle, attorneys representing independent expenditure committees, one supporting former Mayor Fargo and one supporting current Mayor Johnson approached the city. They wanted to spend money beyond the current spending limits to support their respective candidates, and threatened to sue the city over their campaign-finance laws based on the following precedents: </p>
<p>N.C. Right to Life, Inc. v. Leake, 525 F.3d 274 (4th Cir 2008) and Arkansas Right to Life State PAC v. Butler, 29 F.Supp.2d 540 (W.D. Ark. 1998)</p>
<p>The city, faced with the threat of lawsuit, declared that the city would not enforce its spending-limit laws during the last weeks of the election. Now, the city government plans to eliminate these laws entirely. It is not being discussed as a city council issue, but passed with a series of purportedly non-controversial regulations. Its result will probably be an even greater level of influence for developers and other moneyed interests, while restricting the ability of members of the public who are not wealthy or backed by the wealthy to run for public office.</p>
<p>If you are interested in providing feedback to the City Council, or asking them to take this item off of today's consent calendar, please call the City Council members at the numbers below. The item in question is Item 5 on the consent calendar: Ordinance Amendment: Ordinance Amending and Repealing Various Sections of Title 2 of the Sacramento City Code Relating to the City's Campaign Chapters (Contributions and Spending) </p>
<p>Kevin Johnson<br />
Mayor<br />
Mayor's Office<br />
916-808-5300</p>
<p><br />
Ray Tretheway</p>
<p>Ray Tretheway<br />
District 1<br />
916-808-7001</p>
<p>Sandy Sheedy<br />
District 2<br />
916-808-7002<br />
</p>
<p>Steve Cohn<br />
District 3<br />
916-808-7003<br />
</p>
<p>Robert King Fong<br />
District 4<br />
916-808-7004<br />
</p>
<p>Lauren Hammond<br />
District 5<br />
916-808-7005<br />
</p>
<p>Kevin McCarty<br />
District 6<br />
916-808-7006<br />
</p>
<p>Robbie Waters<br />
District 7<br />
916-808-7007<br />
</p>
<p>Bonnie Pannell<br />
District 8<br />
916-808-7008</p>William Burg2009-03-31T19:04:00Z