Clean Elections support requested

[Rob Tucker]

Friday the HTH had an article on possible council interest in diverting the Clean Elections program which would make public money available to candidates who refrained from taking private money. Here is the link to that article.

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/arti...ocal02.txt

ALSO:

I forward this to you from Debbie Hecht in Kona.....

PLEASE FORWARD TO BIG ISLAND FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Aloha Friends,

This Monday at 9:00 am the Hawai`i County Council will be voting on Resolution 098 which could kill the Clean Elections pilot program in Hawai`i County (the resolution is attached with responses).

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP TO MAKE SURE THIS DOES NOT PASS:


1) Click here to fill out the petition:
http://ga3.org/campaign/FairElectionsNow1


2) Send in a personal testimony to: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us
Tell the council we need fair elections.
This is legal, it has been reviewed by the attorneys at the Legislative Review branch in Hawaii County and attorneys on the state level.
The money in fair elections will enable more people to run for office and diminish the influence of wealthy, special interest groups.
It has worked well in other states-Arizona most notably.

3) Go to the council meeting this Monday at 9am at the Ben Franklin Building in Hilo and give a testimony. You can also give testimony in Kona and in Waimea via teleconference . Try to bring a few friends if you can.

Happy Easter!

Mahalo,
Debbie Hecht
989-3222
www.voterownedhawaii.org

I'm putting this in the main forum for 24 hours.....

Punaweb monitor

[Rob Tucker]

I sent in my email....

With the county council intending the Citizen's Initiative for the 2% Land Preservation Fund to be redirected to the general fund and now the county council or some members seem to want to reverse the Clean Elections effort, I and others, are beginning to wonder what might be next.....

We will find out soon enough I suspect..... probably this week.

[Jon]

LOL... I sent one also... I am sure it was the opposite of yours...


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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[Daniel]

So I know what the clean elections idea is about, so what's the opposing view? Why wouldn't it be a no brainer? Is there more to it than i have been told?

Daniel R Diamond

[Jon]

Basically it's political welfare. It needs to be tossed out and a better set of rules put it. I like the idea that a candidate can not raise any money outside the district they are running in.



-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[LeeE]

Done.

Thanks for posting this Rob.

[Rob Tucker]

Daniel, The best info I can offer on an opposing view is in the Tribune article in which J. Yoshimoto, council chairman, says:

"We must ask ourselves this simple question: Do we really want to use Hawaii taxpayer funds to give people money to run for political office," asked Council Chairman J Yoshimoto. "As a taxpayer, I would be extremely unhappy with our precious tax dollars spent by a candidate that I may not support."

As an incumbent councilman I might assume the chairman has a personal interest in funding for any challengers for his seat... and will wonder if he will be voting for a personal interest or a public interest. I might try to talk with him about it if possible.

On the other hand there is a lot of concern about off island money, often from developers, flooding local campaigns and perhaps exerting undue influence on our island. Clean Elections is a pilot program to attempt to offset that.

I will point out here that to qualify for campaign funds one will need 200 verified signatures from local voters and then be willing to not accept private money.

[konadave]

My cousin does the website for http://www.caclean.org/ California Clean Money. They sell novelty t-shirts and stuff to help fund the organization. If anyone wants to be involved in doing a website and promoting this I will be happy to provide some space on my web server for free.

The Kona Forum
http://www.konaforum.com

Da Kine PC Repair Upgrade
http://www.DaKinePC.com

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former". --Albert Einstein

[Bob Orts]

quote:

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Originally posted by Daniel

So I know what the clean elections idea is about, so what's the opposing view? Why wouldn't it be a no brainer? Is there more to it than i have been told?

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Every politician is in favor of a clean elections regulation - of course they really don't want it implemented. The idea is to keep special interest money out of their opponent’s hands, but not theirs.

If you look at the cases where a clean election candidate was caught violating the rules, their position has always been, it shouldn't apply to them, just their opponent. In one state with a clean elections law, a particular political party fought for clean elections. They cited out of state union donations as being a thing of the past under clean elections. They talked about how radical left wing environmental and animal rights groups would be restricted from donations and thus not able to influence the legislature. They talked about it being the most fair and righteous thing for the citizens and will keep candidates working for the people. Of course the first person thrown out of office after an election for violating the law was from their own party. Now they think clean elections is a fraud and evil villain.

[james weatherford]

I attended the public hearing this morning, and became extremely upset — abandoning the calm rational thinking of my prepared testimony and expressing how appalled I was at seeing my friends and neighbors forced to beg and plead (and they did it with great intelligence and articulation) to advance our democracy!

Never once have I criticized the County Council as a whole for their conduct of business — now, I do.
Thus far, the 2008-1010 Hawaii County Council term is turning into a shameful embarrassment in the conduct of its business.

Recall, anyone?


James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park