No more public funds for Chapel Hill candidates

Candidates will begin filing for office in Chapel Hill Friday — and they will do so without a public campaign financing program that has been in place since 2008.

The town’s Voter-Owned Election Program, which was approved by the N.C. General Assembly in 2007 and has been used in the last two election cycles, will not be in place this November.

The program aimed to level the playing field for candidates from different economic backgrounds by limiting individual campaign donations to $20 and setting maximum fundraising thresholds for local candidates.

Many town leaders say they are concerned the loss of the program will shift candidates’ attention away from the issues and toward fundraising.

Under the old program, candidates for Town Council had to raise $838 from at least 83 contributors, with a ceiling of $2,513, in order to run for office. Mayoral candidates had to raise $1,676 from at least 165 contributors with a ceiling of $5,027.

In May 2012, Rep. Verla Insko (D-Orange) proposed a bill in the General Assembly that would have extended the end date of the program beyond July 1, 2012, but it was not considered after going to the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House.

Insko said she was disappointed but not surprised because she thinks the Republicans who now represent the majority in both chambers of the legislature might not favor public financing.

“In a democracy, one would think the citizens of a city could decide how to pay for elections as long as it didn’t violate the U.S. or N.C. Constitutions or any laws, and it didn’t,” she wrote in an email.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said he’s concerned that the program’s absence will prevent candidates with fewer donors from running.

“I’m sure there are plenty of people in Chapel Hill that can write those checks, but plenty of people who can’t,” he said.

Kleinschmidt said he is not sure if the program’s expiration will lead to a decline in the number of candidates.

“The most important variable is how many incumbents are running for re-election,” he said, noting that current council members Gene Pease and Laurin Easthom will not be seeking re-election this year.

Orange County Commissioner and former Chapel Hill council member Penny Rich said the program made a huge difference in 2009 — two years after she first ran for council unsuccessfully.

“The difference between running in 2007 and 2009 was like night and day,” she said.

Rich said in order to run a successful Town Council campaign in Chapel Hill, candidates generally need to raise at least $4,000. She said voter-owned elections forced her to interact with more people from across the community.

Rich said she liked the program because it allowed candidates to focus more on the issues. She said she thinks not having it will once again lead to races centered on fundraising.

“It’s always in the back of your head that you need to get that $4,000 or $5,000,” she said.

Orange County Democratic Party chairman Matt Hughes said he was concerned that without public financing, valuable time will be diverted from community outreach to soliciting for contributions — something he thinks voter-owned elections were designed to prevent.

“It really just takes the money part out of the equation,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.