Campaign Reform

* Your editorial on the Long Beach Campaign Finance Reform proposal, “Opening the Club” (May 18), severely missed the point. This campaign reform proposal will break our city budget!

You claim it will only cost “each resident about 50 cents per year.” That equals almost $1 million per year. Who knows what the final bill will be once special interest candidates realize they can use tax dollars to pay for their one-issue campaigns? Campaign money will come from the same general fund that pays for Long Beach’s police, health services, parks, libraries and street repairs. Which programs would you want to cut to pay for more politicians?

Long Beach is facing an $11-million budget shortfall this year. We do not know where those forced cuts will come from let alone where the extra $1 million in cuts will be made in order to fund campaigns.

Public financing is better called welfare for politicians and is completely irresponsible in light of the severe difficult economic times we face!

JEFF KELLOGG, Vice Mayor

City of Long Beach