VENTURA : Council May Rescind Vote on Initiative

One week after voting to place an initiative on campaign contribution limits on the November ballot, a Ventura councilman says he wants to bring the measure back to the council so it can water the proposal down.

“I had it rammed down my throat” last week, Ventura Councilman Jim Monahan said Tuesday of the initiative that would limit campaign contributions to $100 per donor. “It’s wrong. It’s too restrictive.”

Monahan’s motion Monday evening, which had the support of at least two other council members, drew the ire of Councilman Steve Bennett.

Bennett had proposed the idea and had drawn up an initiative with the help of citizen groups after his colleagues rebuffed his suggestion in December to approve campaign limits themselves.

Now, he said, realizing that voters might approve tough spending limits this fall, council members are trying to rescind their previous decision.

Council members agreed to reconsider the matter at next Monday’s meeting, opening the door for them to design their own campaign contributions law. If the citizens groups--which include Common Cause and the League of Women Voters--wanted a tougher law than the one designed by the council, they would have to collect more than 5,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot.

The initiative would limit campaign contributions for council candidates to $100 per donor. But if candidates agreed to limit their overall campaign spending to $20,000, they could then receive contributions as high as $200 per donor under the initiative.