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Initiative would clean up races Backers want less money in politics By PAUL FATTIG A statewide campaign being launched in Medford today may change the way Oregonians vote. An initiative sponsorship form will be submitted along with 25 signatures of eligible voters to Jackson County Elections Clerk Kathy Beckett to begin a grass-roots effort to pass the Political Accountability Act, which supporters say will level the political playing field in Oregon. The act will give candidates the option of voluntarily rejecting private contributions while agreeing to strict spending limits, giving them access to a public fund for legitimate campaign expenses, said Janice Thompson, coordinator for the Portland-based Oregon Working Group for Campaign Finance Reform. Moreover, it would ensure fairness by providing matching funds to candidates who adhere to the finance reform system and who are outspent by traditional candidates, she said. The result is that candidates elected under the new system would not be influenced by big money contributors, she said. "Candidates should be able to raise issues rather than money," she said. "We want to reduce the influence of money in politics." Chief petitioners include Medford resident John Dellenback, a former congressman; Norma Paulus, former Oregon secretary of state and former state superintendent of public instruction; and Kappy Eaton, public policy chair of American Association of University Women of Oregon and a longtime activist with the League of Women Voters. The effort is a bipartisan attempt to clean up politics, observed former Medford city council member Bill Mansfield, an intiative sponsor. "Hopefully, people running for office will be motivated to want to appeal to the voters' sense of fairness by saying, `I'm going to win this on the basis of my ideas and political philosophies and policies rather than how much dough I can get from the fat cats,' " Mansfield said. "The system we have now endorses wrongdoing," he added. "... This system will change it from a situation where money buys an election to where ideas buy a campaign." "What we've seen is that each campaign costs more and more," added Normary Barrett, vice president of the Rogue Valley League of Women Voters. "It's limiting the people who can get out there and be involved in politics," she added. "People who want to run for political office see that (cost) as such a big part of the job. The voters feel their votes don't count ... They also feel like they aren't being represented." Today's candidates, concerned they need a large war chest to campaign, too often turn to people and organizations who can help them the most financially, according to those backing the reform. "People are saying, `Why should we vote if we're not represented?' " Barrett said. "They feel it's the money machine that is running everything." The goal is to put the campaign finance reform package on the general election ballot in November 2000. Volunteers will have until July 2000 to gather some 67,000 signatures of eligible voters on the statewide initiative. The system, which would simply be an option for candidates, would apply to state legislative and partisan statewide races, Thompson said. The coalition had tried to get legislators to support the campaign finance reform package during the recent session but got nowhere, she said. Since legislators wouldn't lead the way, the alternative was to go to the people, she said. "The Medford-Jackson County area has really been a statewide leader in this effort," said Thompson who has been working with local activists for nearly a year. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA