Columbia seeks to create task force to explore campaign finance regulations
Nia Hinson
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia is considering to form a task force to look into campaign finance reform.
The council on Monday night unanimously approved creating the task force, though specifics of the task force– including who would be on it and how many people would make it up — still need to be hammered out.
The idea of creating a task force was pioneered by Ward 3 Councilwoman Jacque Sample, who requested the motion. Sample told ABC 17 News on Tuesday she envisions the task force to be made up of a diverse group of people, including people from various political leanings, as well as representation from labor unions. She also would like for the community to be able to weigh-in on the idea.
Sample said she heard several concerns from her constituents about large amounts of money being donated in local elections, which she believes began after the April municipal election.
“I think when individuals see the thousands and thousands of dollars that some people raise for elections first is hard to understand where all of that money comes from sometimes, but it also makes it seem like your ‘average person’ wouldn’t be able to run for office,” Sample said. “There’s a perception that they’re required to raise that amount of money.”
Mayoral candidate Blair Murphy made headlines in the April election with several high-dollar and high-profile donors. He raised $262,709 for the race, more than triple what Mayor Barbara Buffaloe raised. Buffaloe beat Murphy by more than 3,000 votes for mayor. More than $324,000 in total was spent in the election, previous reporting shows.
In the fourth ward race, candidate Ron Graves raised more than $30,000, while Councilman Nick Foster raised more than $8,000. Foster won that race. Sample ran unopposed in her race.
Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman said while he voted to approve the task force, he doesn’t see donations playing much of a role on elections. He said the city discussed the idea of creating an ordinance regarding this, which he said he would ultimately like to receive clarification on.
“I still don’t think it’s necessary if you look at the results,” Waterman said. “But I do think if it goes forward, I do want to have some specific language as far as you know what defines ‘contributions.’
Sample said she still sees value in getting more feedback.
“Not everybody can understand, or has the ability to understand to support a candidate in that way and so it just feels out of reach,” Sample said. “I think by having some limitations in place it kind of eases that worry about raising enough money to be a ‘viable candidate.'”
While the council approved the creation of the task force, several had questions that they raised. Foster inquired about the makeup of the group, as well as how they will be appointed. Buffaloe also said she recommends the task force look into how the potential rules will be regulated in the city.
After it was suggested that a councilmember could each pick a member of the taskforce, Ward 2 Councilwoman Vera Elwood suggested it would better for the council to collectively vote on members.
City Attorney Nancy Thompson suggested that she and her staff put together a draft report for the council to review. She said she expects to have that finalized for the City Council by its second meeting in January.
Sample said she is hopeful that the task force will be able to work to review what other cities are doing regarding elections, such as St. Louis and Kansas City. Springfield, Missouri, is also in the process of creating an ordinance, according to Sample.
Sample said intends for the task force to work with Columbia’s legal office to see how it could translate here.
According to Kansas City’s ordinance, donations to elect a mayor into office has been capped at $3,000, while people looking to donate to council members will be allowed to shell out a maximum of $2,500. In St. Louis, both mayoral and board of alderman donations are capped at $2,600.
The logistics of how much money Columbia would cap donations at still need to be figured out.