San Benito County this week advanced its plans to boost
oversight of local elections, as the Board of Supervisors gave a
final approval to a campaign finance ordinance and laid groundwork
to form an ethics commission.
Hollister – San Benito County this week advanced its plans to boost oversight of local elections, as the Board of Supervisors gave a final approval to a campaign finance ordinance and laid groundwork to form an ethics commission.
The board’s adoption of the campaign finance reform ordinance – a 4-1 vote – was a formality after it became clear three or four supervisors would support it. The new law is intended to restrict how much each candidate can raise per election.
The board also agreed to form a subcommittee of two supervisors to examine the potential makeup and rules for an ethics commission.
Supervisor Reb Monaco was the board’s lone opposition to the campaign finance ordinance. Other elected officials and candidates have voiced concerns at prior meetings, but none spoke Tuesday.
“I felt as I’ve felt all along that it favored the wealthy and incumbents,” Monaco said.
Supervisors Bob Cruz and Pat Loe have spearheaded the ordinance. They believe it will even the playing field and lower possibilities for fraud in county races.
Candidates for future elections – after this November’s – must first choose if they want to accept a voluntary spending cap. For supervisors, that means they could spend only $10,000 per race. For district-wide candidates, such as the sheriff, that means he or she could spend $35,000 per race.
If a candidate does accept that limit, the amount he or she could accept from each donor would rise from $100 to $250.
Although there was little opposition, a county attorney spoke on behalf of Registrar John Hodges, saying he has concerns about both the ordinance and the ethics commission.
Regarding the ordinance, Hodges on Wednesday said San Benito’s never had a problem before, so why change now?
“Right now we are under the state of California’s limits,” Hodges said. “But the board wants to put stiffer limits and that’s going to require more help and it’s going to require more people in the DA’s office, possibly the sheriff’s office.”
Hodges opposes the ethics commission because it may include oversight of his elections office, and not just that of candidates.
Hodges has been battling with the board since the March election, after which the federal government sued the county for lacking Spanish-speaking voter resources, and allegations arose that elections officials allowed the return of improper ballots to the office.
Kollin Kosmicki covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach him at 637-5566, ext. 331 or kk*******@fr***********.com.
