Accountability in Elections
Voting equity is important. It allows for more voices to be heard, and to participate in local politics. Two important things must happen to achieve voting equity: 1) Reducing the campaign contribution limit, and 2) Changing San Leandro’s election process to conform to the California Voting Rights Act.
Campaign Contribution Limits
There’s a major issue that leads to the lack of representation for our communities: Big money in local politics. We need to reduce the influence of big spenders in our local elections by lowering the campaign contribution limit from $5,500 to $500, like many other cities have done. This is why I’m running a grassroots campaign for San Leandro City Council District 6 that’s funded by small-dollar donations and my funding. I do not seek or accept large donations, or corporate donations.
Changing the Election Process
San Leandro’s voting system violates the California Voting Rights Act. Currently, the entire city votes for representatives for all districts, rather than having each district elect its leaders. This does not accurately represent the choices and voices in each district. We need to move to a system where only the people in each district get to vote on their representative. There are other benefits to this system:
It will significantly lower the cost of running for City Council, since candidates would only need to campaign in one district rather than to the whole city. This lower cost allows for people in lower economic brackets to run for office, allowing for more voices to be heard.
It will reduce the amount of signs, mailers, and other election pollution we experience in election years
It will allow people seeking re-election more time to focus on the wants and needs of their district, rather than spending time campaigning
It will prevent our city from getting sued for millions of dollars, like other cities who failed to comply with the California Voting Rights Act
This is a culture shift that we need to grow and protect our city for the residents who live here right now, as well as for the future.
