Read

User menu

Search form

Today This Major City May Become the First to Have Publicly-Financed Elections

Today This Major City May Become the First to Have Publicly-Financed Elections
Tue, 11/3/2015 - by C. Robert Gibson

By the end of the day today, Seattle may be the first major city to have publicly-funded elections.

Should Seattle residents vote to pass the Honest Elections Seattle initiative, also known as I-122, big money in politics may just meet its match. The initiative would effectively allow citizens to spend up to $100 in a given election with "democracy vouchers," paid for by an additional $8 property tax on homes worth $400,000 or more.

The initiative would also ban contractors who do more than a quarter-million dollars a year in city contracts from contributing to political campaigns, along with instituting a ban on campaign donations from firms that spend more than $5,000 a year lobbying the city government.

While it's well known that corporate special interests have a disproportionate amount of influence in presidential and congressional elections, these same corporations also use their bottomless coffers to sway local and municipal election outcomes. According to research from the Seattle-based nonprofit Sightline Institute, "pay-for-play" politics has thrived here at city hall.

Recent Sightline research points out that in 2013, the last time Seattle had municipal elections, several corporations arguably won special favors from Seattle with the help of political campaign donations.

Ridesharing company Lyft donated $2,600 to mayoral and city council candidates, and spent $15,000 lobbying city hall for favorable taxi regulations, which it later won.

Likewise, real estate developer Clise Properties donated $2,800 to municipal candidates and spent $48,000 on lobbying city hall in 2013 for an energy project. Since making those donations, Clise has won city approval on several development projects.

In 2013, Ed Murray's mayoral campaign asked for and received the maximum allowed donation ($700) from Microsoft. After Murray won the election, Microsoft was awarded a $46,000 contract to provide tech support to Mayor-Elect Murray's transition team.

In the 2013 and 2015 election cycles, Microsoft donated a combined $4,600 to local political campaigns – and between January 2013 and summer of 2015, Microsoft was awarded over $2.2 million in city contracts.

Sightline discovered that of the top 22 corporations that donated $28,000 to local political campaigns between January 2013 and June 2015, those 22 companies have since been awarded $84 million in city contracts.

"I don't think there's anyone today who isn't aware of the problem of big money influencing our political system," said Alan Durning, executive director of Sightline Institute. "Virtually everyone here is for I-122, except for our rather conservative daily newspaper and the big corporate donors in our city."

Durning is referring to the Seattle Times, which ran an editorial disparaging the campaign in September saying voters should reject the initiative due to I-122's funding model. The Times argued that issuing $100 in democracy vouchers to the city's 410,000-plus registered voters would cost roughly $41 million – a stark contrast to I-122's estimated new revenue through property tax levies of $5.4 million.

This means that I-122's public campaign financing model would only be fiscally sound if just 13 percent of registered voters or less participated in the program. But During maintains the Times is splitting hairs.

"They're just trying to confuse voters," Durning said. "Even the ones who are against this don't disagree that big money is influencing our political process."

Seattle residents vote with mail-in ballots, and the deadline for voting or dropping off ballots is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Durning said while internal polling shows a majority of residents and elected officials support I-122, they aren't taking any chances on turnout.

"We'll be doing door-knocking up until the last minute," he said.

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

It is not hyperbole to say that the world’s richest man has now illegally seized control of America’s checkbook and the entire federal workforce.

Over the next four years, we’re about to be inundated with a flood of lies—including from federal agencies themselves.

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

The grassroots opposition to President Donald Trump is hitting the streets everywhere.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

Posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

Posted 3 weeks 4 days ago

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

Posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

Over the next four years, we’re about to be inundated with a flood of lies—including from federal agencies themselves.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

It is not hyperbole to say that the world’s richest man has now illegally seized control of America’s checkbook and the entire federal workforce.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.