SOUNDING OFF: League to monitor campaign finances

In 1994, Laguna Beach adopted a campaign ordinance proposed by the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, and Shirley Grindle of Time is Now — Clean Up Politics, known as TINCUP, an organization dedicated to campaign finance reform of state, county and local elections.

This ordinance placed a limitation on campaign contributions for the offices of City Council, City Clerk and City Treasurer. The campaign contribution limit for the current election cycle is $330. Since the League of Women Voters was one of the primary advocates for this ordinance, we feel a particular responsibility to see that compliance with this ordinance and other required campaign disclosure regulations is uniform.

As we did in the last election, the League will be closely monitoring public campaign disclosure statements as they are filed during the current election. We will be doing this as an ally with campaign treasurers, not as an adversary. The forms are complex, and inadvertent errors are easy to make.

We will ask treasurers for clarification when necessary. If a mistake has been made, we will ask that an amendment be filed with the City Clerk. The League’s interest is in the integrity of the process. As such, we will make a public statement only when a material error remains unamended after it has been brought to the attention of a treasurer.

For the record, the League has not made a single public statement, nor have we filed a single complaint with any regulatory authority since undertaking this oversight role in 2004.

The laws governing campaign disclosure are not arbitrary, and voter trust can be maintained only when the rules applicable to all candidates and committees are being followed. The benefit that results is that the important issues facing our city — rather than the shortcomings of campaign disclosure statements — can take center stage.