San Diego City Council District 2

What would happen if all candidates were limited to spending twenty thousand dollars in a

San Diego City Council election

The primary election for San Diego City Council will be here in about six months. Like horses at the trough, candidates are pulling hairs over campaign bounty. When special interest, political action, and personal donations are all included, the winning candidate will spend over one million dollars. Any American would call this an obscenity. Yet, the voters buy and accept this as business as usual.

Political payback is clear corruption. Organized labor will donate untold amounts of cash in order to achieve a quid pro quo. This affects public policy and hence our city deficit. What is more alarming however, is the fact that any citizen can skirt campaign limits by simply opening a personal political action committee in favor or against any candidate. This tactic was used in the last District 2 San Diego City Council election by the mayor and his cronies to swing the election in favor of their desired outcome. But it’s legal. Most if not all voters are oblivious to all these unethical shenanigans. The cycle of deceit continues every four years. This must stop!

Those citizens who wish to serve the public and their city as non-career politicians with no fundraising and no glamour marquee endorsements are viewed as unacceptable by media elites. Lower tier candidates with tons of visionary and fiscally prudent ideas are ignored and even ridiculed as losers. Voters take no initiative to research the websites of these contenders, everybody likes a winner and nobody likes a loser so it’s a vicious circle.

A good metaphor in all this social campaign finance injustice is the WWII capitulation of Poland to Germany in thirty days. Poland fought on her knees without allied support but never lost her moral conscience despite annihilation. The citizens of San Diego must refute candidates who pile on campaign money higher and deeper. The residents of this city are better served by objective minded leaders who have no pollical favors to pay back and thus not prostituting public policy.

If we instituted a twenty-thousand-dollar limit on political contributions, candidates would be relegated to virtual hand to hand combat. Walking door to door, campaign forums, media events, and personal contacts would take on new meaning. Public policy would be purely defined and truth would prevail. Voters would be forced to see and digest the ideas and vision of all candidates. Parity, justice and honesty would rise to the top and all citizens would be heard without prejudice.

Dan Smiechowski is a candidate for District 2 of the San Diego City Council.

His website is www.dannytri.org