LAGUNA BEACH : City Plans to Adopt Campaign Limits

Taking note of the rising cost of local political campaigns, the City Council this week signaled its intention to adopt an ordinance that would limit contributions before next November’s election.

While some in attendance said such controls favor incumbents--three of whom will be up for reelection next year--most indicated that such reform is overdue.

“I don’t want to see Laguna Beach bought, and it’s well on its way right now to being bought,” said K.P. Rice, president of Treasure Island Residents Owners Assn., which lost a bruising battle for rent control at mobile home parks after being heavily outspent by the opposition in a 1990 election.

The ordinance presented to the City Council, which was drafted by the League of Women Voters of Orange Coast and Orange County Common Cause, would cap campaign contributions at $250. It would not limit spending or the amount of personal funds candidates can pour into a race.

While supporting the overall concept, most council members objected to various details of the ordinance, including a provision that prohibits husbands and wives from making individual contributions.

As a result, the council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to state its intention to adopt such an ordinance while sending it to the city attorney to be revised.

“I think this is a terrific ordinance. . . . It’s long overdue,” Councilman Robert F. Gentry said. “I think we can fine-tune it to make it much more effective than it is.”

A revised version should be before the council in January.

Councilman Wayne L. Peterson voted against the measure.

The reform has been strongly supported by Village Laguna, one of the most powerful political groups in the city. “We really feel the good in this ordinance outweighs the negative,” group President Johanna Felder told the council.

However, opposing political group United Laguna took the opposite view. Director Michele L. Oliver called the proposed ordinance “overly restrictive” and said her group would be willing to help shape a different law.

Elaine Smith, who ran unsuccessfully for city clerk last year, scoffed at the idea that money buys votes.

“If money could buy an election, Ross Perot would be President and Mel Owens (who lost in the last City Council race after spending the most money) would be sitting there,” she said.

Political tensions have risen in this city since the Oct. 27 fire, with some residents blaming the council majority for not earlier supporting a Laguna Beach County Water District plan to build a reservoir on a knoll near Alta Laguna Park.

Common Cause Chairman Bill Mitchell praised the city for considering what is dubbed the TINCUP ordinance with so many other concerns vying for their attention.

“Given the problems this city has had to deal with, campaign finance reform may appear to be small potatoes,” Mitchell said. “I would argue that TINCUP today is more important and more relevant than it was two months ago.”

Similar laws have been adopted elsewhere in Orange County.