GREENBURGH CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES – FEBRUARY 3, 2000
(approved March 2, 2000)
Present:
Jo Brill, Elizabeth Daniel, Paul Feiner, Andrew Goodman, Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, Claire Lee, Harriet Leib, Erin Malloy, Susan Mancuso, Anne Nelson, Rev. Wilbert Preston, Mike Reynolds, Kathleen Rutherford, Ervin Schliefer, Francis Sheehan, Lester Steinman, Mary Tobias, Jim Winer
Absent:
Sally Schaadt, Charlotte Schienberg
The first meeting of the commission was called to order at 10:05am in the Greenburgh Town Hall Conference Room.
Anne Nelson from the League of Women Voters County Government Committee stated that she would temporarily serve as the facilitator of the meeting. She stated that the membership would elect a chair later in the meeting after becoming better acquainted. She welcomed the attendees, distributed a membership list and fact sheet, and thanked the commission members for volunteering to serve and Supervisor Feiner for bringing together the group to discuss campaign finance reform.
Anne Nelson introduced Jo Brill, County LWV President, who was active in 1998 advocating Singer Commission campaign finance reform at the County level.
Jo Brill stated that the membership selection process for the Greenburgh Campaign Finance Commission (GCFC) was similar to that for the Singer Commission, adding that it was an important group because campaign finance reform cannot be expected to trickle down to the local level-- it must bubble up from the bottom, from the local level. She said the members know the local issues best and are best able to determine local needs.
Anne Nelson then introduced Supervisor Paul Feiner and asked him to explain the commission’s charge.
Supervisor Feiner stressed that the commission is independent and may do what it wants to achieve the goal of making as even a playing field as possible for incumbents and challengers. He wants the commission to propose recommendations by June so that they may appear on the November 2000 general election ballot in the form of a referendum. He is concerned about the potential corrupting influence money has on the political process and agreed that reform must bubble up from the local level, not trickle down from federal or state proposals.
Anne Nelson held up a copy of the 2/7/00 Time magazine article titled "How the little guy gets crushed" and mentioned the article was worthwhile reading.
Each of the attendees introduced her/himself while referring to the distributed membership list. Supplementary contact information (fax number, e-mail address, etc.) was added to the list as needed. Anne Nelson concluded, saying an updated copy of the membership list will be prepared.
Anne Nelson introduced Elizabeth Daniel from the Brennan Center for Justice, stating that Ms. Daniel was the successful litigant in recent case.
Elizabeth Daniel stated that there is no "one size fits all" approach to campaign finance reform. The commission knows local community needs and is best able to determine what campaign issues need to be addressed and what remedies should be considered. She sees her role as a guide through the legal issues relating to campaign finance reform, adding that it does not make sense to recommend something that is unconstitutional and that will keep the town in court trying to defend it. She said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government, looks very promising regarding limiting large campaign contributions, but expenditure limitations still enjoy widespread free speech protections. She said the Nixon case was more promising for campaign finance reform advocates than an earlier landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Buckley v. Valeo. Ms. Daniel said she will suggest available options but will not dictate remedies. She is not currently familiar with the legal issues surrounding adopting campaign finance reforms at the local level via referendum.
Copies of the 1998 report by the National Civic League titled "Local Campaign Finance Reform: Case Studies, Innovations and Model Legislation," first edition, were distributed to each attendee.
Kathleen Rutherford, of the National Civic League’s New Politics Program, who was visiting Westchester from Denver to learn about local Campaign Finance Reform efforts, was also introduced.
Supervisor Feiner interjected that he didn’t want his continued presence to give the appearance that the commission is not independent. After Anne Nelson thanked Supervisor Feiner for his help in assembling a great group, Supervisor Feiner left the meeting saying he looked forward to getting the commission’s referendum recommendations. Jo Brill and Kathleen Rutherford also left.
Lester Steinman, Council for the Westchester Municipal Officials Association and Director of the Pace University Municipal Law Resource Center, stated that the town can hold a referendum only if specifically authorized to do so by state law. Before commenting further regarding the propriety of holding a referendum on campaign finance legislation, he said he would conduct additional research.
Andrew Goodman, an attorney, stated that it is difficult to attract talented people to politics because, after deciding to run, the first thing candidates must do is make fund-raising calls, which is distasteful and a major deterrent to many potential candidates. He said that ethics laws could limit the type of money that could be raised by candidates.
Mary Tobias, representing the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations (CGCA), said that the CGCA is very concerned that incumbent candidates accept contributions from developers, their attorneys, and others with business before the town. She also said cable television could do more to promote candidates during elections but currently the rules in Greenburgh are unfair to anyone who is not an incumbent.
Elizabeth Daniel said that in some of the campaign finance reform models there is limited public funding of campaigns. It is one of the options the group can consider.
Anne Nelson said that it is not unusual for incumbents to have greater access to the media. The question for the group to decide is to how to make campaigns fair.
Catherine Lederer-Plaskett agreed that incumbents have access to the press and other such forums and that it is important that any campaign reform service all candidates, that the commission must be careful to avoid pitfalls that cause only one group to be served.
Mike Reynolds, representing the Right-to-Life party, said that we need to make more information available to the public, perhaps in the form of an in-depth question/answer publication. He said that if the press did its job we wouldn’t need campaign finance reform. Cable access television in Greenburgh works against the third-party candidate.
Claire Lee, Hastings-on-Hudson LWV representative, said that she thought the showing of town meetings was very informative and helpful in educating the public.
Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, representing the Greenburgh Democrats, said that cable access television programs do not show in all areas of the town. She said that the Hastings-on-Hudson and Dobbs Ferry Village Board meetings, for example, do not play in the unincorporated area. Information distribution via cable is limited. She said the unincorporated area does not receive much information about the villages and the villages do not receive much information about the unincorporated area. She suggested Francis Sheehan explain cable operations further.
Francis Sheehan, representing the CGCA, said that there are two cable systems in the town. Cable access in Tarrytown is different than cable access in the other five villages and the unincorporated area. In order to show a program in Tarrytown the tape must be physically transported to their cable access studio—there is no linkage via cable. The remaining areas of the town are hard-wired yet do not necessarily show the same programs throughout town, which divides us as a town. He gave an example of two recent Ardsley Village Board meetings which were only shown in Ardsley; the bulletin board was displayed in the unincorporated area.
Mary Tobias said that unfair cable access practices are a critical concern of the CGCA. She said cable access could be used to great good but is generally used by incumbents for incumbents.
Francis Sheehan said that cable access television is currently a very poor means for non-incumbent candidates to inform the public about issues.
Anne Nelson, who does not have cable, asked who regulates cable access television and who funds it?
Francis Sheehan said that the Town Clerk is in charge of the town’s cable access. Although there is an ad hoc cable access committee, it does not have decision-making powers and does not appear to regularly meet. Regarding financing, he explained that Cablevision, the cable franchise holder, is contractually required to pay the town approximately $50,000 each year for cable equipment. He said the town also receives about $300,000 in franchise fees each year from Cablevision but that money is placed directly into the general fund.
Mary Tobias stated that cable access television in Greenburgh is fixable without a referendum.
Andrew Goodman asked if cable access television was frequently watched.
Reverend Preston stated that, after his appearance on cable, he was surprised how many people approached him and said they saw him on television. Other attendees who have appeared on cable agreed. There was widespread agreement that the number of cable access television viewers is significant.
Anne Nelson asked if local issues are discussed on the town’s cable access.
Francis Sheehan said that there are cable access programs hosted by Greenburgh residents, but, having studied the town’s programming practices since the last election, he was found the town is increasingly filling the limited show time with programs from Manhattan Cable Access, Brooklyn Cable Access, and elsewhere, boxing out programs from local residents.
Andrew Goodman said that the group has to be careful not to try to regulate cable access content, which is protected by free speech.
Andrew Goodman said that the group needs to be narrow in focus but broad in perspective. We should entertain all ideas while staying focused on the charge of the group. He emphasized the need to be open-minded in our data gathering.
Reverend Preston said that it is important to get ideas from others, to give those not present an opportunity to share their views.
Anne Nelson suggested meeting with Frank Barry, from the NYC campaign finance board, either in New York City or at one of the commission’s meetings. Rachael Leon, Director of Common Cause, could also be invited.
Catherine Lederer-Plaskett said that cottage meetings are common in Greenburgh. Commission members could use the small gatherings to obtain suggestions.
Harriet Leib said that if we hold general meetings the commission must be prepared with ideas because we are on a tight deadline. We have to maximize the use of our time, she said.
Mary Tobias will contact Danny Gold, CGCA chair, regarding soliciting suggestions from other members and will try to get 5 or 6 civic association presidents to attend a subsequent meeting.
Reverend Preston said that meetings are good but we need to motivate the public to attend, that a crisis is needed to get the public’s interest, otherwise there is apathy. He said that, during the last election, less than 50% of his parishioners responded when he asked how many were registered to vote.
Anne Nelson said that voter apathy is a crisis and that it appears the commission, in addition to finance reform, needs to find ways to change people’s mindset, to reassure them that their votes really do count.
Anne Nelson said that the next order of business was to elect a chair, and then removed herself from consideration. Mary Tobias nominated Reverend Preston, who declined due to time-constraints. Harriet Leib was then nominated and seconded. She accepted provided there was a co-chair because she has many other commitments through July. Catherine Lederer-Plaskett agreed to co-chair the commission. There were no other volunteers. Ms. Lederer-Plaskett was nominated and seconded. Ms. Nelson asked if there were any objections to the nominations and, there being none, she moved the nominations by acclimation.
Co-chair Harriet Leib said that we only have until the end of June to complete the commission’s work. Before proceeding further, she asked that the next meeting be set. Issues were raised regarding how often the commission should meet, how often the commission needs to meet, and how often the members were willing to meet. The consensus was that, due to the tight deadline, the commission needs to meet in two weeks.
Co-chair Catherine Lederer-Plaskett asked for a volunteer to call New York City Campaign Finance Committee member Frank Berry. Anne Nelson will notify him of the date/time/place of the next meeting.
Co-chair Catherine Lederer-Plaskett asked if members have a preference regarding day or evening meetings.
Lester Steinman said that 10am meetings are difficult for those taking off time from work, that the 8:30am time set for the meeting that was cancelled due to snow was better for him.
Andrew Goodman said that evening hours tend to conflict with other already-scheduled meetings.
Anne Nelson said that evening meetings also tend to cause greater conflict with members’ personal lives.
Anne Nelson said that the Town Hall conference room is a difficult room for a meeting, particularly if guests are being invited. She described the effort needed in assembling the table extension and chairs necessary for the meeting. Others mentioned the lack of heat.
A general discussion centered on where to hold the next meeting. Pace University was suggested. Lester Steinman said that he would explore the possibility of meeting at Pace but was concerned about holding the meeting in White Plains since the commission was focused on the Town of Greenburgh. A suggestion was made to meet at Reverend Preston’s church. It was decided, rather than routinely impose on Reverend Preston, that Pace University would be explored first, saving Reverend Preston’s facilities for a community outreach meeting.
Francis Sheehan asked if, before the meeting ended, he could comment regarding a letter he wrote in preparation for the January 26, 2000 meeting. He said that he was relieved that the commission was addressing true campaign reform issues because the only reform mentioned in newspaper articles about the commission involved a question/answer publication, which he felt was not finance reform. He distributed to each member a copy of the letter which he said contains two proposals to consider regarding campaign finance reform. He said that he was encouraged that the newspaper coverage was inaccurate—that true campaign finance reform is being considered.
Anne Nelson welcomed others to make similar suggestions, adding that she was unaware of the newspaper articles and did not authorize them.
Co-chair Catherine Lederer-Plaskett said that someone needs to be secretary and nominated Francis Sheehan, who agreed provided fellow CGCA representative Mary Tobias assists with recording the minutes. Mary Tobias agreed provided her involvement was limited to providing assistance in taking minutes because she no longer has access to a computer and does not want to serve as secretary. Catherine Lederer-Plaskett asked if anyone else wanted to be secretary, and there were no volunteers. Without objection, Francis Sheehan will serve as secretary and Mary Tobias will help record the minutes.
The next meeting will be held February 18, 2000, at 8:30am, at Pace University if available, otherwise large tables and chairs will be setup in the Town Hall auditorium.
Meeting adjourned at 11:50am.
Respectfully submitted,
Francis Sheehan, Commission Secretary