‘96 Candidates Given Longer to Retire Debt
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Candidates in the 1996 city election will have another year to seek contributions for retiring their campaign debt, under City Council action this week.
By voting 4 to 1 to amend the city’s campaign contribution ordinance, the council gave Mayor Linda Lindholm and Councilwoman Mimi Krogius Walters another chance to pay off hefty political debts of more than $40,000.
The city law had allowed candidates to raise as much as $350 per contribution, but the local ordinance was replaced in 1996 by Proposition 208, a state measure that allowed only a $100 maximum donation.
However, the state measure was overturned by the courts in January. Saying that local candidates lost a year of raising money at the higher $350 limit, the council extended the fund-raising period.
The extension was opposed by Councilman Eddie Rose.
“I don’t believe in incurring debt in running a campaign,” he said. “This is a slap in the face of the people of California” who voted for Proposition 208.
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