In a letter written recently, I stated Sue Lempert's campaign had received "sizable donations" from Ted Lempert's campaign. This was in reference to what I believed was a $1,000 contribution made to her campaign in 2002. Sue Lempert phoned to say this was in error and she is absolutely correct. When I went back to City Hall to look at her Form 460 filings for 2002, what I had recorded as a contribution to her campaign was in fact an expenditure. When the Form 460 reports are bound, the heading that shows whether the amount is a contribution or an expense is obscured. This was an honest error and I hope Sue Lempert will accept my apologies for the mistake.
The fact remains that Sue Lempert's campaign contributed $1,000 to Ted Lempert's campaign in 2002 and $1,500 in 2003. Small contributions have also been made from her campaign to other candidates. What this means is that campaign contributions made to Sue Lempert's campaign effectively went to support others' campaigns and causes. It should be noted, however, that this "re-gifting" of campaign monies appears to be a standard practice at all levels of government, including our City Council.
Without controls on where campaign finance money comes from, where it goes, and total dollars spent on campaigning, I don't see how meaningful reform is possible. If Sue Lempert's proposals were benign, they would be fine, but lulling voters into believing reform has been achieved when it has not may actually be worse than maintaining the status quo.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.