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Humboldt County Group to Run County Petition
That Would Ban Outside Corporate Involvement in Elections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 11,2005
Contact: Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, (707)
269-0984, info@DUHC.org
EUREKA - On Tuesday, July 5, a newly formed citizen’s
group called Humboldt Coalition
for Community Rights (HCCR) handed in
language to the Humboldt County Elections office for a proposed county
ordinance. The "Humboldt County Ordinance to Protect Our Right to
Fair Elections and Local Democracy" would prohibit any non-local
corporation from contributing to any candidate campaign, referendum or
recall in county elections.
“Our hope is to ensure local control over our elections. We want
to make sure that elections – a vital part of democracy –
happen fairly. We think that the folks who live in this county should
be the ones deciding who is elected and we think that large corporations
from outside our community should not have the ability to dictate what
happens in our local elections,” said HCCR spokesperson Yvonne Doble.
“I was born and raised here and I want to preserve the way of life
I grew up with – the people who live here should determine our future.”
The ordinance also restricts corporations from claiming constitutional
rights. Corporations have been able to claim 1st Amendment protections
when contributing to political campaigns ever since the Supreme Court
ruled that money was equal to speech in the 1970s. “Only people
should have rights – the idea that corporations can claim rights
is false and ridiculous,” said Nezzie Wade, a College of the Redwoods
professor and another member of the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights.
“The issue is simple, who do we want deciding the future of our
county – the people who live here or outside corporations? We need
to protect our right to fair elections and local democracy.”
Larry Glass, a local business owner in both Eureka and Arcata was pleased
to hear about the ordinance, “I think this will go a long way to
level the playing field. Large corporations like Walmart have been forcing
themselves on communities by way of the initiative process – communities
are helpless against their deep pockets and so called ‘rights’
– this will really help protect our community and will be good for
the local businesses that are here.”
The group is responding in part to the 2004 recall attempt of Humboldt
County District Attorney Paul Gallegos that was financed primarily by
Maxxam Corporation and Palco Corporation, a subsidiary of Maxxam. “Obviously
we are acting in part because of what happened with the recall. Some folks
may see this issue as resolved – but we’re concerned about
the potential chilling effect the recall may have had on other public
officials. Will they think twice before enforcing the law against other
corporations? The reality is that large corporations have the money to
bully our elected representatives – Maxxam/Palco spent $250,000
to try to buy an election. They failed this time, but shouldn’t
we make sure that never happens again?” said Doble.
“Research has shown that 64% of Humboldt residents think that city
or county governments should be able to prohibit non-local corporations
from participating in our local elections. And 78% believe that corporate
participation in elections makes political corruption more likely –
obviously the community has identified that there is a problem and we’re
trying to fix it,” said Wade.
HCCR is hoping to qualify their ordinance for the June 2006 ballot. Once
the County Counsel approves the language of their ordinance, the group
will begin gathering signatures and will need just under 5,000 signatures
in order to qualify for the ballot.
The Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights can be reached by writing
to PO Box 1334, Eureka CA 95502. The group is in the process of opening
an office in Eureka and creating a website. Information can be found through
Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, the authors of the "Humboldt
County Ordinance to Protect Our Right to Fair Elections and Local Democracy."
Democracy Unlimited can be reached at (707) 269-0984 or www.DUHC.org.
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Additional information:
• Humboldt County
Ordinance to Protect Our Right to Fair Elections and Local Democracy
• Results from Humboldt
County telephone survey conducted in 2004 by Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt
County (cited above) (Adobe PDF document)
• March 30, 2005 press release explaining
above survey
• Background about
the Humboldt County District Attorney Recall (MS Word document)
• Article: Citizens in Humboldt County,
California Offer New Model
to Challenge Corporate Campaign Contributions
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