April 14, 2006

Jerry Smith, Chairman
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
PO Box 1728
Salinas, CA 93902-1728

Re: Campaign Finance Disclosure Policies

Dear Chairman Smith and Supervisors:

The League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula supports enhancing disclosure of campaign contributions beyond the minimal requirements of the 1974 state law. The current County requirement that campaign contribution disclosure forms be posted on the internet should be improved, not deleted. The rule requiring mailing copies of periodic disclosure statements may be obsolete.

Full disclosure with easy and timely public access is imperative. The League has spent more than a year studying a wide range of campaign finance and conflict of interest regulations for local government. The State, along with cities and counties, is moving towards electronic, web-based submission and access of disclosure documents. For examples, see State of California: http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov and City of Sacramento: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/-clerk/olcf/.

Monterey County should move forward, not backward, on campaign finance reform. All deadlines for disclosure should include the posting of disclosures on the internet by that deadline. In our research we found a lag time of weeks to months between the deadlines and the posting of the information on the county website.

We also understand the County has concerns about publishing the disclosure information on the web in English only. The League strongly supports the Voting Rights Act and is currently advocating for the renewal of Section 5. However, we are concerned that the County is using the Act to reduce access and transparency to all groups, and thus every citizen is disenfranchised, not only the minority language citizens. If done correctly, on-line access of campaign disclosure information in multiple languages can be accomplished with only a change in the underlying template that accompanies the displayed data. The League would be willing to work with the County to accomplish this task.

The League seeks to assure that elected officials are focused on the public interest. Openness and full disclosure are key to trust. And easy access is required or the disclosure itself is muted. Therefore we hope the Board of Supervisors does not hobble the voter, but will make campaign finance disclosure information more accessible to the electorate and easier to use for candidates and campaigns.

Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

Sincerely yours,
     Marilyn Maxner, President

cc: Leroy W. Blankenship, Assistant County Counsel
     Tony Anchundo, Registrar of Voters