Whereas, the cost of elections to public office have been escalating astronomically in California and the Nation, including a record $130 million spent on the last California Governor’s race and

Whereas, other California candidates seeking election in 2002 also raised and spent record-breaking amounts of money, and

Whereas, large contributions from corporate interests and the wealthy often create a conflict of interest for legislators who need to return favors rather than cast votes in a manner that best serves the people of their districts, and

Whereas, important issues needing change and reform to better serve the people of the State and the Nation ranging from health care, to natural recourse protection, to education are ignored or unsatisfactory solutions are crafted because of the aforementioned conflict of interest, and

Whereas, many highly qualified and motivated people who could serve in the office cannot compete with the incumbents or the rich, and

Whereas, the public is becoming increasingly disenchanted with the candidates competing for offices, and

Whereas, publicly financed elections or Clean Money campaigns are currently in place and are working well in Arizona, Maine, and Connecticut, and

Whereas, the money it costs to pay for Clean Money campaigns would be more than offset by stopping the hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money wasted annually on benefits to special interests, and

Whereas, the Clean Money system would make elected officials accountable to the people, not special interests,

Therefore be it resolved that the Trinity County Democratic Central Committee favors publicly financed elections, will press for their implementation, and will work with legislators and others to achieve this objective.

Adopted by Trinity County Democratic Central Committee February 8th, 2006

HOME