DeVore pushes improved agency transparency

If Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has his way, public agencies that finance partisan political activities will soon have to disclose the sources of their funding, a move the assemblyman hopes will protect taxpayer dollars and encourage transparency.

Groups that receive taxpayer dollars, like the League of California Cities and the California State Assn. of Counties, are barred from using such revenues to influence public policy, though the organizations may use anonymously acquired “non-public funds” for such efforts.

DeVore said this lack of disclosure keeps residents in the dark, and could result in the illegal appropriation of tax dollars, leaving some taxpayers contributing to campaigns with which they may not agree.

“We don’t know where this money is coming from,” DeVore said. “It’s not like it’s coming out of the private pocket of the mayor or a city council member.

“I think it’s important that we improve transparency — I think more transparency is always a good thing for public disclosure,” he added. “It makes the debate more honest and open, and it allows the voters and the media, both, to understand precisely who is backing or opposing something.”

Spokesmen for both the League of California Cities and the California State Assn. of Counties said they welcomed the opportunity to enhance their transparency, though Jim Wiltshire, the deputy director of the California State Assn. of Counties, said he thought the bill was little more than election year posturing by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., a co-sponsor of the bill. The California State Assn. of Counties opposes Proposition 98, which the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. supports.

“I’m not sure [DeVore’s] measure is all that necessary, though I’m a little curious as to its timing,” Wiltshire said. “I think they’re suggesting impropriety to help their campaign. … We’ve never been found to have done any campaign finance in an inappropriate way in previous campaigns. I think they are simply connecting dots that aren’t there.”

Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn. Legislative Director David Wolfe dismissed the criticism, saying that the groups’ million-dollar marketing campaigns raise some questions about the sources of their non-public income.

“What we’re saying is: these are non-public fund accounts, and in the interest of representing taxpayers and ensuring that their money is not being used to fund public campaigns, what’s the harm of opening your books?” he said.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.