The jury is still out for me on whether or not I agree
with having to disclose those contributors that give
$100 or less in a non-election year or those that give
$300 or less ($500 for mayor) in an election year.
This amount given by an individual can hardly make or
break an election.
There are contributors who give to everyone in the
race. They are hedging their bets and they may not
want to be outed. I did have one women ask me to keep
her donation private (not anonymous) as she was
neighbors with one of my competitors and did not want
things to get uncomfortable. I can certainly
understand that.
The other concern I have is that if the list was made
public, the people on the list would become
fundraising targets for every other candidate and
political action committee out there or become targets
of people who do not like the candidate they
contributed to. Some campaign races get heated and
it's not too far fetched to picture a tirade in the
grocery store from someone who doesn't like the
candidate you gave money to. I might agree to names
without addresses or phone numbers. I am still not
sure yet.
I am willing to disclose that all of my contributions
with the exception of the ones from my two brothers
and husband came from business owners, residents and
property owners in the neighborhoods I will be
representing.
The other theme I want to address here is the notion
that these political parties have endless vats of cash
just waiting to go into the coffers of candidates. I
hope I am not violating a cardinal rule here, but, the
last time I checked, the City Committee of the DFL had
about $5,000 in it's check book. The SD61 committee
had about $400. Perhaps they have increased since I
last checked, but, I doubt by much. And I would doubt
the greens, republicans, libertarians or any other
party are sitting with a whole lot more in their bank
accounts. So while having party endorsement can be a
wonderful thing, it doesn't necessarily bring a cash
cow financial contribution with it. In fact, it is my
understanding that most candidates contribute towards
producing the sample ballot, etc.
It's definitely led to some interesting conversation
here. I just think I need to think about the
ramifacations of this more before I could jump on this
band wagon.
In the end I wish the list would get just as heated
over the affordable housing crisis and solicit what
candidates think about that and more importantly just
how they would try to deal with the problem. It's not
enough to say "I support affordable housing". Well duh
who doesn't!! You need to know the candidate has the
skills, experience and the desire to make something
concrete happen. Otherwise, your just being paid lip
service.
Campaign finance disclosure makes for interesting
discussion but is hardly the most germane issue that
candidates should be facing in this election.
Barb Lickness
Whittier
Ward 6
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