The Political Whore

 

City Councilman John Dingfelder, the object of nasty well-funded attacks in his last re-election bid, is out in front of an effort to adopt campaign reforms. From his proposal to further limit contributions and their sources:

After the 2007 races, many folks in our community became very concerned about local campaign finance issues.  The huge influx of money into Council races over the past few years is widely perceived as negatively affecting citizen confidence in the political process.  If the community encourages this, Tampa City Council can place this important issue on the November, 2008 ballot and allow the people to decide.

Total dollars raised for City campaigns continue to increase each election cycle, far beyond inflationary costs, with ever larger contributions raised by incumbents (51% in 2007). In 2003, all Council candidates raised a total of $738,715.  Four years later this jumped 60% , exceeding the million dollar mark for the first time, when it reached a total of $1,180,104.

If the Sarasota approach had been in place in Tampa in 2007, the total raised would have been cut in half.

The Sarasota approach would lower contribution limits from $500 per person t0 $100 in the city’s four district council seats and $200 in its three at-large citywide seats. It would also improve reporting on campaign contributions, limit the role of PACs and stop corporate contributions at the local level.

I’ve written before about the phenomenal amount of money that is now finding its way into local races, which used to be low-key affairs when it came to campaign war chests. (see, “The Money Men,” from Nov. 2006) Dingfelder’s idea sounds reasonable and promising.

Dingfelder is convening a hearing on his ballot proposal tonight (Weds., Feb. 27, 2008) 6-8 p.m. at the Kate Jackson Center, 821 S. Rome Ave. The public (that would be you) is invited. You can download his full proposal here. (Word .doc)

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