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| What are they hoping to buy? |
Admittedly, candidates can't control who and what is contributed to their campaign. But in a city where citizens are limited to $100 contributions for mayor and $75 contributions for other council members, how is it that non-local organizations can contribute thousands of dollars to support the campaigns of local candidates?
Reports on file with the Fort Collins City Clerk indicate the National Association of Realtors has contributed $23,870 to support Weinkunat, $11,396 to support Campana, $11,396 to support Stockover and $1,868 to support Cunniff. A representative of the city clerk's office stated that "Independent Expenditures" are often used to support issues on the ballots but it is "not typical" to see them in support of candidates.
The amount given to support Weinkunat seems particularly out of line when you consider her opponent has raised only a few hundred dollars to finance his whole campaign (see Campaign Finance Reports).
Large campaign contributions do not automatically indicate corruption. In fact, Ross Cunniff stood at city council on 3/19/13 and publicly expressed that he did not solicit these fund and that he did not want the National Association of Realtors to fund any additional support. But when a national organization contributes a significant percentage of the total contributions to a local election, it begs the question, "what does this national organization hope to buy?" (See link in note below.) At the very least, rules relating to campaign contribution limits in our city should be reevaluated. It seems absurd when an external organization can contribute more to a local election than can be raised from the entire population of Fort Collins constituent-contributors.
NOTE: Clint Skutchan added a link to our Facebook page, explaining that the contributions came from the Fort Collins Board of Realtors. The original argument was that it's disconcerting to know that external organizations can contribute as much or more than constituents and local businesses, combined -- that argument still applies, even when the organization is local.
All - here is a letter I sent to the Coloradoan and posted on my website at http://rosscunniff.com
ReplyDeleteTo the editor,
I’m Ross Cunniff, and I’m a candidate for Fort Collins City Council in District 5. This Tuesday, March 19, I was surprised to receive a phone call asking me to vote for myself and another candidate in the City election. Doing a little digging, I found that the Fort Collins Board of Realtors (FCBR) had spent nearly $2,000 to “support” my campaign. Digging further, I found that the same group had spent nearly $50,000 to support their endorsed candidates. This was unsettling, unprecedented, and unwelcome to me.
This money was apparently spent as a result of the Fort Collins Board of Realtors’ endorsement process. This is the first time in my memory that they have poured such an enormous amount of money into the City Council race. I sent the Board a letter this week, asking them to stop their independent “support” of my campaign. As of the writing of this letter, I have received no response from them. Therefore, I must regretfully reject their endorsement of my campaign.
I am taking this public step because I am concerned about the Board of Realtors’ attempt to buy the local Fort Collins election. Furthermore, I encourage the other candidates who have been endorsed by the FCBR to reject their endorsement, until such time as the FCBR publicly commits to terminate their troubling big-money approach to Fort Collins politics.
Ross Cunniff
ross@rosscunniff.com
420-7398