Groups ask:Who gave the money?

Groups ask: Who gave the money?

Complaint filed over $1.5 million given to racial privacy initiative

Timm Herdt; herdt@insidevc.com

July 10, 2002

SACRAMENTO -- Campaign finance reform groups on Tuesday filed a complaint with state elections officials in an attempt to force backers of a controversial ballot initiative to reveal the source of more than $1.5 million in campaign contributions.

The measure, called the "racial privacy initiative," is backed by Sacramento businessman Ward Connerly, author of Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action in government contracting, employment and university admissions. The new proposal would bar government agencies from collecting information about a person's racial or ethnic status. Connerly's group submitted petitions in the spring to qualify the measure for the ballot, but there were too few signatures to allow for a random sampling to check their validity. That means signatures must be individually checked by elections officials, a process that will delay its qualification until the 2004 primary election ballot.

Before then, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and other groups want the state Fair Political Practices Commission to order the measure's sponsors to reveal the sources of a $1.5 million campaign contribution from a group called the American Civil Rights Coalition.

The coalition, formed by Connerly, was formed expressly to support the initiative effort. Initiative backers reported a lump sum contribution from the coalition, but critics say the law requires that names of individual contributors to the coalition must be disclosed.

"Donors clearly have reason to know that their funds are being used for political purposes," said attorney James Harrison. "What's going on is that the American Civil Rights Coalition is acting as an intermediary for its donors."

Kevin Nguyen, the official proponent of the initiative and executive director of the coalition, said the group has referred the issue to its attorneys and would not respond until the complaint has been reviewed.

Campaign finance reports show that backers of the racial privacy initiative had raised $1.8 million through June 21, nearly all of which was spent collecting signatures. Nearly 90 percent of that came from the coalition, and all of that was raised in the last year. The nonprofit coalition reported assets to the IRS of just $714 as of June 30, 2001.

"Ward Connerly should keep faith with the fundamental principle of California's campaign disclosure laws by disclosing the source of his campaign's funding," said Jim Know, executive director of California Common Cause.

Connerly argues that prohibiting state and local government agencies from collecting information on race and ethnicity would help promote a colorblind society. Critics say the measure would open the door to discrimination by preventing government agencies from collecting information that might uncover race-based biases in such areas as housing and lending practices.

Among backers whose contributions have been disclosed are beer brewer Joseph Coors and direct mail specialist Richard Viguerie, both prominent figures in national conservative causes.

"One of the ways California voters evaluate a ballot measure is by evaluating who is behind it and who opposes it," Harrison said.

He said he expects the FPPC will act on the complaint in time so that it can be resolved before the 2004 election.