Ballot Measures on Campaign Funds

It speaks volumes on the need for campaign reform that Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is willing to say that she needs to raise big money now--money that she couldn’t raise if Prop. 212 passed--because she is concerned that she might have “very serious competition” in her next election (“Supervisors Move Up Election Fund Drives,” Oct. 16).

The connection between fat-cat contributions and being “competitive” in an election is exactly what is wrong with the current system. If anyone really believes politicians when they say that they aren’t influenced by these special interest contributors, this type of scrambling for the big bucks ought to be proof enough to the contrary.

ANDRE DELATTRE

Los Angeles

* Re “Prop. B--a Welcome Half-Step,” editorial, Oct. 17:

Political plastic surgeons are working hard to improve the lips used by county supervisors in servicing campaign contribution reforms, but they can’t hide the ethical wrinkles left by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in time to beat the election.

ROBERT KNOWLES

Los Angeles

* While comparing the two campaign finance reform initiatives, your Oct. 11 editorial fell into a trap designed by the crafty campaign consultants of Prop. 208.

Prop. 212 provides Californians with real reform. Prop. 212 limits out-of-district contributions to 25%, it bans corporate contributions, it eliminates the tax deduction for lobbying and it sets low mandatory spending limits. Prop. 208, on the other hand, is unable to stand on the merits of its own initiative, so they creatively attack the tough provisions of 212.

The citizen contribution committees of Prop. 212 limit each individual to $25, and the repeal of the 1990 Ethics in Government Act, as noted by the current California secretary of state, will close the loopholes now present and provide a complete ban on moneyed influence by Sacramento lobbyists. Californians want real reform. Californians want the strong reform that only Prop. 212 can provide and will not fall victim to the shallow attacks of the opposing initiative.

REED WAGNER

Laguna Beach