Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel’s landmark initiative to create a taxpayer-supported fund to seed local political campaigns got a thumbs-down from the county commissioners Wednesday.
In a unanimous vote, the panel rejected the program, which would have added $500,000 to the budget and used county funds to match small campaign contributions. The Clean Elections Grant would have been the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Commissioner Antonio Pineda, one of the sponsors of the motion to delete the program from the budget, said the fund was problematic.
“I think this idea is completely ridiculous and there’s a lot of problems with it,” he said. “The idea of using taxpayer dollars to fund political campaigns is insane to me. It has a lot of issues, including free speech issues. What happens if we fund a political campaign and that person commits a heinous crime. So the county just gave money to a person who is a potential criminal.”
Under the proposed initiative, the county would have matched small campaign donations 6-1. Candidates would have had to follow strict rules and spending caps, and demonstrate a level of community support to access the funding.
In announcing the program in August, Siegel said it could help level the playing field for candidates with small bank accounts but grassroots support, calling it an “alternative to a status quo that is broken, dysfunctional and corrosive.”
On Wednesday, he conceded that the measure was unlikely to be adopted in a year where taxpayers were being asked to pony up 17% more in property taxes, but said talks with individual commissioners about the idea have been productive, and could lead to a similar measure in the future.
“I think it’s probably more productive to have a long-term conversation about the efficacy of the program and the structures and parameters that would ultimately govern it,” Siegel said.
The executive on Wednesday announced that his office had identified $500,000 in recurring savings to the county by eliminating some temporary part-time positions and cracking down on wasteful printing practices.
“As Lehigh County looks to fix years of short-term and unsustainable financial management that resulted in depleted county savings and exploding structural deficits, it’s critical that taxpayers see strong and dedicated efforts to efficiently invest each dollar we receive,” Siegel said in a statement. “This administration is dedicated to responsibly managing revenues and expenditures.”
The commissioners also voted down two proposed new positions in Siegel’s office, a chief of staff who would have been paid $133,000 and a communication executive with a salary of $129,409.
The board will vote to adopt or reject the budget this month, and Siegel will have the option to veto budget items. The commissioners can override his vetoes.