Fighting Corruption in Lake Forest

There is much discussion locally and on a national level about the influence of special interests on political decision making. You don’t have to be Donald Trump to know that when you give a politician money for his or her campaign, you are going to make an impact on the decision making. Studies done here in Lake Forest of the relationship between accepting money and voting demonstrated this fact clearly – in more than 100 cases if you “followed the money” you got the decision you expected, in all but one case.

In recent years the costs of campaigning have grown enormously, and the influx of special interest money has quadrupled. Since 2010 more than $100,000 in special interest money has flown to the coffers of City Council candidates, and that’s just the ones who won.

What can we do?

Below I’ve crafted an ordinance to lessen the ability of special interest money to creep into campaign financing. I’d welcome any suggestions on how to make this ordinance better.

ORDINANCE

1. No company or organization having an affiliation with the City of Lake Forest, directly or indirectly, may contribute financially, by direct (campaign committee) or indirect (independent expenditure, political action committee) means, to any member of the Council, Commissions, or Committees.

a. Any company or organization found in violation of this provision will be fined $5,000 for each act, and the person on the Council, Commission, or Committee will also be fined $5,000 per act.

b. In addition, the relationship with the City of Lake Forest for any company or organization found in violation of this provision will be terminated and they shall be barred from future relationships for a period of four years.

c. No company may accept a contract or sub-contract, or any other affiliation with the City of Lake Forest if they have made a financial contribution, direct or indirect, as defined above, for a period of four years prior to accepting the contract or sub-contract or affiliation.

d. These limitations will apply to the company and the organizations, as well as the principal officers and their immediate relatives.

2. No person with an issue that comes before the Council and/or Commissions may contribute financially, by direct (campaign committee) or indirect (independent expenditure, political action committee) means, to any member of the Council or Commissions, within a period of 2 years prior to the issue coming before the Council and/or Commission.

a. If a person does come before the Council and/or Commission in less than 2 years, his/her contribution must be re-funded and the Council/Commission member who received the contribution will be barred from voting on the issue.

3. No member of the Staff, a Council, Commission, or Committee member of the City of Lake Forest may contribute financially, by direct (campaign committee) or indirect (independent expenditure, political action committee) means, to any member of the Council.

a. Exemption. Financial contributions to nonprofits and any activities not related, directly or indirectly, to election or re-election are exempted from these provisions.

GOAL

This ordinance would make it far more difficult for any company, organization, or person to financially influence the decision making process. It will not make it impossible, but it will make it more difficult to do, and will raise the penalties for doing so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 12 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.