Democracy Dollars a viable fix to combat special interests

THE EDITORIAL in the Albuquerque Journal (Sept. 13) condemning the public financing reforms proposed for this November’s ballot is shortsighted. At Common Cause, we, too, wish that we lived in a perfect world, where no law, once passed, needed fixing and the status quo is acceptable.

At Common Cause New Mexico, we are about fixing what’s broken. This year, for instance, with the help of Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, we fixed the state’s public financing system, the Voter Action Act, to prevent unopposed candidates from using public funds unless they are going to be later opposed in a general election. Then they get 20% of what they would have gotten. This will remedy the state loophole the Journal cites as a reason not to overhaul the city’s system.

The city’s public financing law, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2005, needs fixing. We wish it didn’t. We wish $350,000 was enough to run a mayoral campaign. But it isn’t. Incumbents and well-heeled candidates can easily raise that amount — and more — from special interests who have something to gain from the city, but the whole idea of public financing was to curb the power of special interests and give everyday candidates a shot.

Without more adequate funding for candidates who are willing to limit their spending and decline dependence on special interests, here’s what will happen:

Huge, independent PACs will dominate local campaigns. It will be more difficult for voters to know who is behind the increasing volume of negative ads on the airwaves.

Fewer and fewer mayoral candidates will participate in public financing. The arms race will resume between the unions, the developers, the real estate interests and the single-issue groups.

The cost of campaigns will skyrocket with no ceiling set by a public financing system.

Democracy Dollars is a viable fix that will control a runaway system. It is not the perfect system — those who are determined to preserve the role of big money in elections have made that difficult with lawsuits, threats and obfuscation of whether the county or the city is responsible for elections. But remember, politics is the art of the possible. Only the defenders of the status quo are looking for the perfect solution. VIKI HARRISON Director, state operations, Common Cause Rio Rancho