Colorado Common Cause and several other local groups say they soon may unveil a proposed ballot initiative aimed at reining in big-donor campaign contributions and creating a public financing system for Denver city elections. “We’re at a historic point now in terms of both low faith in government and its accessibility to regular people,” says Peg Perl, senior counsel to Colorado Ethics Watch, which is among the groups working on the potential measure for city voters in November. Add to that the flood of money in last year’s municipal elections, when Mayor Michael Hancock raised more than $1.3 million and total contributions to city candidates surpassed $4 million, and Perl says the result for many voters is disillusionment.
Details for a ballot measure are still in flux, but Perl said the group could start the review process with city officials as soon as early May. After firming it up, the groups would file it with the Denver Elections Division and begin collecting petition signatures to get it on the ballot.
When Perl and Colorado Common Cause associate director Katie Dahl spoke Wednesday morning to the Denver Board of Ethics, they outlined some potential proposals — including dropping contribution limits from $3,000 to $1,000 for mayoral candidates, from $2,000 to $750 for other citywide candidates and from $1,000 to $400 for district-level City Council candidates. Those are close to the limits that candidates to state office typically face in Colorado in an election cycle.
Full Article: Groups may take aim at Denver campaign finance, ethics rules.