Letter to Longmont Times-Call
Published 3/5/09

IMPROVING PROPOSED CAMPAIGN RULES

I see that Longmont’s Fair Campaign Practices Act is being revised by our City Council. For some of us who occasionally get interested in what goes into the sausage as it’s being made, here are a few ingredients that I think might be added to make it better (if not already included.) For example:

To be fair, powerful outside political influences such as the Denver branch of a national organization known as ProgressNowColorado.org, which has been very active here, should be barred from local politics. We’re supposed to have a city law against playing partisan politics, but by identifying themselves merely as a “think tank” they’re home free. If City Council truly intends for our city elections to be “local and nonpartisan,” then it should clearly define what that means and enforce it.

Likewise, If the genuine goal is to keep Longmont elections in the hands of bona fide Longmont residents, then something has to be done about people who live outside the city limits but insist on becoming quite involved in city politics anyway, even though they are ineligible to vote here.

Also, I’m not sure it’s wise to be putting the City Clerk into the role of accuser, judge, prosecutor and jury, all at the same time, when it comes to allegations of violating provisions of the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

I’m not challenging her ability to engage in all of those roles, but I think in a smaller city such as Longmont the executive function should be kept separate from the judiciary. That one or one-thousand former candidates may not have liked the decision a city judge handed out, is no reason to bypass the courts –- if, indeed, that’s what this specific revision is about.

And please, we’re debating policy here. So keep your cool.
P.