Having been treasurer for both Lisa Vecolis' senate bid and for the citizens
group who worked on the Library referendum, I have to echo Tim Bonham's
sentiments about Mr. Rybak's campaign suggestions. It is a real hassle
being treasurer. I'm a volunteer and it is enough for me to get reports in
three times a year. I doubt you could find anyone to do this job if they
had to post information 48 hours after the receipt of a check. Also, I know
several people who are treasurers who do not even have computers and keep
their books on paper.
Ultimately, I think this is a straw man issue. My $25 or $50 doesn't buy me
a vote. When I donate to a candidate, I am donating to support the person
who has a set of values which most closely match my own. It is those values
I am supporting. I am not getting some personal goodie from this. I would
invite people who feel that they can "buy" something from a politician with
these donations to donate to a candidate and see.
Carol Becker
Longfellow
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Bonham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 11:09 AM
Subject: [Mpls] Re: Campaign Finance Disclosure
> I have to say I oppose RT Rybak's suggestions that every contribution of
> any amount be reported, and that these be put on the internet within a few
> hours.
>
> My opposition is not because I favor secret contributions, but because of
> concerns for the practicality of doing this. I don't think it will work,
> and I don't think it would change anything.
>
> The amount of record-keeping and form-filling that is currently required
is
> difficult, to have to do this for every contribution would be
> overwhelming. It's already sometimes difficult for candidates to find
> someone willing to take on the work & responsibility of treasurer; with
> this change it would become even harder to find anyone to take on this
> job! I've been a political treasurer for over 20 years now, and it can be
> tiresome. Just this week I had to file 5 different finance reports. If I
> had to report every contribution, I'd still be working to finish those
> reports. There is only so much time volunteers are willing to donate to a
> campaign!
>
> And then to have to put this on the internet, and very quickly -- I can
see
> a whole lot of problems with that. (Look what problems Steve Brandt is
> having just getting paper copies of these reports.) The idea of preparing
> contributor files, in appropriate formats, and somehow getting them to the
> government agencies involved just floors me! For example, just how would
> I even get these files to them? Email -- Ha! Remember that they don't
> even use fax machines yet, you still have to submit these reports on
> paper. I'd be mailing a floppy disk to them. (And then IBM or Mac
> floppy? What file format? etc.)
> And then we have the problem of these government agencies taking files
> from all these floppy disks, and combining them, and reformatting them
into
> a web-accessible format. This by the same office that is now taking 10
> days to make paper copies available. I believe that the Hennepin County
> office is a one-person department, with part-time help from another clerk
> at filing time. How many additional staff is RT proposing to make this
> plan work?
>
> Finally, I don't think that this would solve the problems. I really don't
> think that disclosing the names of small contributors would have any
effect
> (except on them: additional requests, etc.). The big players that RT is
> concerned about (developers, corporate executives, lobbyists, etc.) are
> already giving more than the limit, and are listed on the
> reports. Listing small contributors wouldn't make any difference. They
> don't influence candidates. (At least, not by contributions. They have
> influence for their help, their endorsement, their volunteering, their
> talking to other voters, the ideas they give to candidates, etc. But not
> for their financial power!)
>
>
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