A campaign of spending

Here’s a choice for you: Would you rather have a brand-new car or a

seat on the City Council? Both could cost you about $35,000.

That staggering sum is the ballpark figure for what the top

spenders in last fall’s campaign, Mayor Toni Iseman and Councilwoman

Elizabeth Pearson, shelled out for the chance to be loved by some and

hated by many others.

Pearson topped the list, raising and spending a shade above that

$35,000. Iseman was close behind with $33,700 in spending.

The list goes on: Village Laguna spent $33,100, much of it on a

poll. Melissa Adams, who just missed a seat in the ultra-tight race,

spent $24,400 and raised about $25,400.

Councilman Steve Dicterow was the thriftiest of the bunch. He

spent $13,000, while raising $17,000.

To put the numbers in perspective, three of the four candidates

spent close to or more than $1 per person in the city.

By comparison, a presidential candidate would have to spend $290

million to pluck down a buck per person (President Bush spent about

$185 million in 2000). In next year’s California Senate race, Sen.

Barbara Boxer and her yet-to-be determined Republican challenger

would have to spend about $35 million each.

All that money raises at least two questions.

The first: Is it worth it? Only those who have served in City Hall

can say.

The second, and the more important one: Does it keep people from

running?

That answer also is elusive. Certainly the four candidates who ran

last fall all did well. But were there others who would have run --

and maybe would have made fine city leaders -- if $13,000 were not

the starting point for winning the race?

Controlling such spending has, of course, been a central topic of

political debate across the country for years. Judging by the slow

and painful process to get to the semblance of campaign finance

reform in the “McCain-Feingold” measure that passed a year ago,

Laguna Beach is not going to suddenly alter the way things are.

But perhaps slowly, and surely, it should. In a city of such

relatively few people (and even fewer voters), perhaps there are ways

to limit spending or set up funds to allow more voices into the

campaign. It is certainly a small enough place that it could act as a

laboratory for a cutting-edge system. Perhaps city leaders should

seek out such a project.

Or, Laguna Canyon Road could always be blocked off to allow for

the roll-out of the latest concept car from Detroit.