The Political Reform Blog

August 26, 2009
For Immediate Release

Contact:
Randy Gordon
President/CEO
(562) 843-0945

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announces its support of the proposed Instant Runoff Voting proposal to be considered by the Long Beach City Council.

Instant Runoff Voting elects officeholders with a majority of the vote in a single election thereby eliminating the need for a second-round runoff election or primary election. Voters rank the candidates in order of their
preference -- first choice, second choice, third choice -- and if their first choice cannot win, their vote goes to their second choice candidate as their "runoff" choice. Voters are liberated to vote for the candidates they
really like, instead of worrying about "spoilers" or having to choose the "lesser of two evils."

"In 2006, Long Beach taxpayers paid a total of $2.5 million for an April primary election and a June runoff election," stated Randy Gordon, President and CEO of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "If IRV had been used then, over $1.3 million of precious tax dollars would have been saved," continued Gordon.

Larry Kosmont, President and CEO of Kosmont Companies, has endorsed Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).

Mr. Kosmont has assisted hundreds of local government agencies in land development policy decisions ranging from large-scale economic development to site-specific real estate strategies and projects. He has guided over 1,000 private sector projects in obtaining public approvals, structuring deal terms, and securing public/private financing.

"We are pleased to have the support of a top civic leader like Mr. Kosmont," said Gautam Dutta of New America Foundation. "We salute his years of service to the community," he added.

Mr. Kosmont has also served as a State Commissioner on the California Economic Development Commission, and until December 2007, as a Los Angeles City Commissioner on the Industrial Development Authority.

Once again, there is--fortunately--a lot happening in the world of political reform.

On August 18, California Common Cause announced that its Board unanimously decided to support a Constitutional Convention for California.  Just two days before, the L.A. Times offered their endorsement for a Citizen-led convention and offered implicit support for the Citizen Delegate model championed by the Political Reform Program.

On September 29, we invite you to join Long Beach Councilmember Suja Lowenthal for a Town Hall discussion about Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which might soon be placed on the Apr. 2010 Long Beach ballot.

By eliminating separate runoff elections, IRV will not only relieve voter fatigue, but will save up to $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars per election (source: Long Beach City Clerk).  Already, Councilmembers Suja Lowenthal, Gary DeLong, Robert Garcia and Val Lerch have joined the Los Angeles League in supporting IRV.

Currently, Long Beach holds costly, two-round elections that fatigue voters and waste millions of dollars.  In April 2008, only 12 percent of registered voters participated in the municipal election, which cost Long Beach taxpayers nearly $700,000 -- a whopping $60 per voter.

Currently, IRV is being studied by Los Angeles County and the cities of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Pasadena.  IRV has already been adopted by San Francisco, Oakland, Minneapolis, Memphis, Burlington VT, and Santa Fe.  At a time of fiscal and economic crisis, IRV saves San Francisco taxpayers about $3 million every year.

In a nutshell, IRV allows voters to rank their top 3 choices (1-2-3). This way, if your top choice cannot win, there's no need to vote again. Instead, your vote will automatically go to your second choice.

As you ride the bus or freeway to work tomorrow, ask yourself: Can the person seated next to you, or driving past you, be trusted with the job of redesigning California's basic political and budgetary rules? Are "average Californians" ready to don the white powdered wigs to become the Founding Mothers and Fathers of a new California?

With efforts to call a constitutional convention picking up steam, a proposal for "citizen delegates" has generated considerable interest. Rather than holding elections or having state officials appoint the delegates, about 400 delegates would be randomly selected to produce a scientifically representative sample of all Californians. No political insiders or partisan apparatchiks need apply, just Golden Staters motivated by a sincere desire to help their state.

That's the theory, but could it actually work? Even if the citizen delegates were high-minded and lacking in partisan and personal agendas, are average people capable of the kind of in-depth understanding of complex issues necessary for redesigning California's basic institutions?

 In short, I believe the answer is yes. Read my oped in the Sacramento Bee to find out more by clicking here.

This representative assembly should be in miniature an exact portrait of the people at large.  It should think, feel, reason, and act like them.  ~ John Adams

If the governing structure of California is to be remade, there is only one group of people qualified to handle such a daunting, complex and weighty task-the People of California.  Hot off the presses comes a groundbreaking report by the Political Reform Program's Director, Steven Hill, which recommends that the much-ballyhooed Constitutional Convention be comprised of Citizen Delegates; ordinary folks who will determine how to govern themselves, much as the Founders did a couple of hundred years ago.  This time around, however, all the People are welcome to sit at the table.

"If Madison was right about the need for well-functioning legislative bodies, and if society is losing them, then we would expect to see signs of the twin threats of which Madison warned - chaos­ and tyranny. Disturbingly, we do see those signs today."

These words were written by the Majority Leader of the California State Senate in a paper entitled, "The Dangers of Government Gridlock and the Need for a Constitutional Convention."

The Senate Majority Leader in question was Barry Keene and the year was 1992.

But this warning could easily grace the editorial pages of today as the state's leaders quaver on the edge of an even wider budget chasm and as the tide of discontent with the political status quo rises ever higher.

The familiarity of Keene's concerns - and he wasn't alone - belies the notion that our current problem are due to a recent rise in political polarization or a uniquely venal set of public officials. In fact, a constitutional revision commission was convened in the mid 1990s, though its sensible bipartisan recommendations were ignored by a state that was able to coast through a few more years of denial fueled by the tech and housing booms.

But after these gold rushes, we find ourselves in even more dire straits because the root causes of our problems will not go away for all of our wishing. In Keene's words:

"Some people argue that the problems of government are personal rather than structural. They say that our leaders do not lead, do not care or are crooks. But those charges beg the question - why do even the best people in government accomplish to little? The reasons are partly societal, as mentioned, partly attitudinal, as I will note, but mainly structural."

The likelihood of a California Constitutional Convention actually taking place in the near future seems to grow daily. 

The notion of fixing California's infamously dysfunctional state government has generated more and more serious political, philosophical and pragmatic discussion about the future governance of this sprawling and diverse nation-state.

The New America Foundation and the Political Reform Program have been at the forefront of this initiative, from co-sponsoring the initial Summit which served as the launching of this public conversation, to producing policy papers and commentary that describe what reform in California might look like and how we get from here to there.  Most recently, New America sponsored "California v 2.0:  The Roads to Fundamental Reform," an event which brought together experts in law, finance and political reform to outline a vision for California's future as well as the nuts and bolts of such an ambitious undertaking.

Political Reform Deputy Director Gautam Dutta and CA Assemblymember Ted W. Lieu wrote an article for the Daily Breeze about how Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) would reduce election costs:

California faces a crater-size, $24 billion deficit - and we're about to throw away millions more on three elections we don't need. But here's the good news: If we adopt Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV, for special elections, we can save that amount and more.

With IRV, taxpayers could save nearly $2 million July 14 (fittingly, Bastille Day).

The full article can be found here.

Election reform continues to make both progress and news.

In the California legislature, two important bills have survived hurdles and advanced further.  The New America-inspired AB 30, which would lower the voter registration age to 16, passed the Assembly floor and now makes its way to the Senate.  AB 1121, a bill that would establish a statewide Instant Runoff Voting pilot program, was approved by the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee and now goes to the floor of the Assembly.