Campaign Finance Reform Measure Proposed

Pursuing his crusade for campaign reform, City Councilman Steve Bennett is proposing that a certified public accountant review campaign contributions for all winners in future council elections.

The measure, coming before the council Monday night, would help search for evidence of money laundering or of special interests passing money through employees or family members, he said.

Last year Bennett spearheaded a successful campaign finance reform initiative that gives Ventura one of the most restrictive campaign-finance laws in the state.

Under the new law, candidates will have to publicly declare all campaign contributions larger than $25, instead of the current $100. The new law will also prevent any candidate from receiving checks larger than $100 from any contributor. If, however, they agree to cap their fund-raising at $20,000, candidates can receive as much as $200.

But Bennett says the new law is not enough to keep campaigning clean.

“When the new law is in effect, the incentive to launder money will go up--and we need a safeguard there,” Bennett said. “This simply will give us insurance that people will follow the rules.”

He says he is introducing his idea now for two reasons: Because he wants to pass the proposal before the new campaign-finance law takes effect in January 1997, and because questions about campaign contributions are clouding the debate over a minor league baseball stadium.

Residents opposed to the project have accused council members of taking money from stadium interests. In the wake of their charges, the district attorney’s office is conducting a routine investigation of council members’ campaign contributions from the 1995 election.