Influence of special interest groups fading Influence of special interest groups fading (September 24, 2004)

Race is becoming more partisan, mayor says

By Jon Wiener

The role of special interest groups in Mountain View city politics has changed drastically since the high-priced city council election of 2002.

One of the most active political action committees in previous years, the Mountain View firefighters union, has been laying low this year. Team Mountain View, another group that spent a lot of money in the 2002 campaign, has vanished from the political landscape.

The firefighters union made its endorsements last week, backing incumbents Matt Pear and Nick Galiotto and challengers Stephanie Schaaf and Laura Macias.

After the union spent $15,174 on mailings and lawn signs in 2002, only one firefighter-backed candidate, Nick Galiotto, won a seat on the council. The group's apparent delinquency in publicly disclosing its campaign expenditures may have cast the union and its slate in a poor light, some said.

"That did them more harm than good," said Schaaf. "Everything that happened last time around really made them think twice."

Scott Williams, the union's political director, said last week that it had not made a decision about the amount of money it would spend this year. But the union is offering contributions to the candidates it endorsed, all of whom signed a pledge to adhere to the city's voluntary spending limit of $16,882.

Schaaf said she declined a contribution the firefighters offered her because she is not taking money from any interest groups. Schaaf, who was leading the candidates in fund-raising through the first half of the year, said she wants to use her campaign to make a statement in favor of public financing of elections.

With only six candidates running for four seats this year, compared to 13 for the same number in 2002, the campaigns have become more focused on positions and forums than on spending money to simply get a candidate's name out. In addition to the firefighters, the Chamber of Commerce, the Tri-County Apartment Association and the League of Conservation Voters have also made endorsements for the city council race. Several other neighborhood association and interest groups will follow suit in the coming month.

"If you don't really know the candidate, [endorsements] are very important. If you know more about the candidate they take on less significance," said Mayor Matt Pear.

Pear added that the increased number of questionnaires being distributed by these groups have given the non-partisan race an increasingly partisan feeling.

"That's what's very surprising, how a group could ask someone to take a firm position without having all of the information available to make a sound policy decision," said Pear.

Several of this year's challengers have said they want to draw lessons from the surprisingly successful 2002 campaign of Council member Greg Perry, who spent half of what his major opponents did and spent his time walking door-to-door.

Perry laughed at the notion that his campaign rewrote the manual on how to get on the city council. After all, he said, "I only came in third."

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

Information

The following local organizations have scheduled city council candidate forums and debates.

Peninsula Interfaith Action Monday, Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Church, 582 Hope St.

KMVT Friday, Oct. 15, 5 p.m. on Channel 15. The debate will replay at 11 a.m. on subsequent Saturdays until the election.

Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association Wednesday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Church, 748 Mercy St.

Monta Loma Neighborhood Association Saturday, Oct. 23, 9:45 a.m. at Monta Loma Elementary School, 460 Thompson Ave.

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