CAMPAIGN DONATIONS IN DADE CUT IN HALF

After refusing in March to ban campaign contributions from people who do business at County Hall, the Miami-Dade Commission voted decisively on Tuesday to cap all political contributions at $250 - half the current limit.

The commission voted 10-3 to impose the new limit - effective next year - on all candidates running for mayor, county commission, community council and the Miami-Dade Fire Board. The limit will not apply to municipal elections.

``There is a real need for reform in our community,'' said Commissioner Jimmy Morales, a leading advocate for change in local campaign finance laws.

Morales proposed the $250 limit last month, saying the lower cap would help counter the perception that the money buys influence at County Hall.

The commissioner persuaded his colleagues in 1998 to ban contributions from corporations, but the commission spurned his effort this year to extend that ban to business people with county contracts.

The latest measure sailed through the commission with little opposition. Contributions are now capped at $500 under a 1991 Florida law, but several communities including South Miami and Sarasota County have set lower limits. Morales modeled his proposal after those initiatives.

``Will it make it more difficult for us incumbents to raise money? No doubt about it,'' he said. ``But everyone will be on a level playing field.''

Morales said the change will make it easier for challengers to run credible campaigns, and boost the importance of grass-roots campaigning. Contributions of $25 and $50 will count for more if no one can give more than $250, he said.

Opponents said the change will have little effect on how campaigns are waged and won, especially if the price of campaign advertising stays the same.

``Until we get those who make the money on our collective campaign accounts, those that profit by our campaigns, until they make adjustments to their fees . . . then what are we doing? We are just saying we will raise the same amount of money in smaller portions,'' said Commissioner Natacha Millan, who voted against the measure.

Millan faces a tough reelection race this year against state Sen. Roberto Casas, who was forced to relinquish his Senate seat because of term limits. Millan has raised $304,000.

Commissioner Bruno Barreiro wanted to cap contributions at $100 but Morales rejected the suggestion, saying the lower limit might be unreasonable.

Commissioner Javier Souto suggested the cap should take effect immediately.

Along with Millan, Morales and four other commissioners are running for reelection this year: Barreiro, Barbara Carey-Shuler, Betty Ferguson and Dennis Moss. Commissioner Miguel Diaz de la Portilla is running for mayor.

Morales said imposing the limit now would be unfair to any challengers who have yet to enter the fray, since declared candidates have accepted $500 contributions.

``A lot of money has already been raised,'' he said. ``You would be changing the rules in the middle of the election.''

The six commissioners up for reelection have raised nearly a million dollars to fuel their campaigns. The election is Sept. 5.

Commissioners de la Portilla, Katy Sorenson, Pedro Reboredo, Moss, Gwen Margolis, Carey-Shuler, Ferguson, Barreiro, Morales and Souto voted for the $250 limit.

Commissioners Miriam Alonso, Dorrin Rolle and Millan voted against.

``It affects my ability to raise money to run a race,'' Rolle said.

Rolle won his commission seat in 1998 by defeating James Burke, who ran while under federal indictment. ``If it were not for some of those $500 contributions, I would not have made it.''

CAMPAIGN FINANCING ON ITS WAY VOTERS SAID `YES' TO COUNTY CHANGE

Miami-Dade County voters gave a thumbs-up last week to a referendum that could reduce the power of special-interest money at County Hall and help newcomers win political office - at a cost to taxpayers of $1 million or more.

Candidates running for county mayor or commission will be able to tap public money to finance their campaigns, under the broad parameters of a plan approved Tuesday by 58 percent of voters.

Miami-Dade commissioners had rejected the idea in March, saying they were reluctant to spend public money on the plan.

But voters appeared to have no such qualms.

Commissioner Jimmy Morales, chief champion of the ballot measure, said the margin of victory represents a mandate for change at County Hall.

``This validates what the polls have been saying about public concern over ethics in government and campaign finance,'' he said. ``It shouldn't surprise us that residents of this county want to try something different.''

But others are wondering if voters fully understood the measure.

``Definitely the voters supported it,'' Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said. ``I think they didn't know what the full impact would be, but that's their decision, so we have to abide by it.''

Morales said the measure may encourage more candidates to run for office by providing a source of ``clean'' money for their campaigns, thereby reducing the influence of special-interest money in county politics.

``I think it is a very positive step for more competition,'' he said.

But Barreiro said he fears that less-than-serious candidates will decide to run for office just because public money is available.

``I am really afraid that people are going to take advantage of this. I think it is going to have a big impact on the county budget,'' Barreiro said.

Much will depend on what happens next.

Although voters endorsed the concept, the actual details of the plan must still be hammered out. Morales said he expects to present a plan early next year to his fellow commissioners.

Morales first suggested the idea of public financing in December as part of a broader package of campaign finance reforms.

The commission rejected those reforms in March but later agreed to ask voters what they thought about the idea.

Morales said he was surprised by the outcome.

``In political terms, that was almost a landslide. Clearly, it must have had pretty broad support to win by that margin,'' he said.

The measure was supported by all three major ethnic groups in the county - 51 percent of Hispanic voters, 67 percent of black voters and 68 percent of white non-Hispanic voters cast ballots in support.

Now that the measure has passed, Morales said he will revise the plan rejected in March by the commission.

``I am going to go back to the drawing board,'' he said.

Morales said he wants to rethink some key elements of his original plan, although he provided no details.

Under that earlier plan, candidates for mayor or commission could qualify for public funds by raising money themselves or gathering voter signatures.

Commission candidates would get $75,000 to spend if they raised $25,000 or gathered signatures from 8 percent of the voters in their district.

Candidates for mayor would be eligible for $250,000 if they raised $100,000 or gathered signatures from 5 percent of voters countywide.

In exchange, candidates would have to limit their spending to $150,000 in a commission race and $500,000 for the mayoral election.

Eleven candidates who ran for county mayor or the commission this year would have qualified for public funding under the Morales plan.

The total cost to taxpayers: $1.2 million.

Morales and others expressed surprise at the outcome of the vote, in part because the measure had attracted little attention. With no money for ads, supporters relied on Morales and the Internet get the word out.

``I think the great likelihood is that most voters walked into the voting booth without any prior knowledge of the question. What happened when they got into the voting booth - that is the interesting thing,'' said Santiago Leon of the League of Women Voters, one of the groups that backed the referendum.

Morales appeared on radio and in front of community groups as the chief spokesman for the measure.

``There was no paid media campaign,'' he said. ``There was no mailing. So it truly was a grass-roots effort.''