Publisher’s Perspective: Tammy Kim’s Scheme to Evade Irvine’s Campaign Finance Laws

The person with the most money should not be allowed to buy a seat on the City Council. That’s what Irvine voters made clear back in the 1980s when they passed a ballot measure that put a limit on how much an individual could donate to a political candidate running for local office. In the November election, that contribution limit is $620.

As the former Chair of the Illinois State Board of Elections — an independent state agency responsible for administering and enforcing campaign finance and election laws — I have witnessed how corrupt politicians try to get around campaign contribution limits.

Candidates who have little support within their community often create special political committees to raise unlimited sums of money. These committees are typically funded by big special interest groups (developers, builders and large real estate firms) that bankroll a candidate’s campaign. Once elected, the politician pays back these big-money special interests by rubber-stamping massive development projects.

In the race for Irvine Mayor, Councilmember Tammy Kim has received most of her campaign donations — about 60% — from out-of-town business interests. She’s also relying on two newly created big-money political committees to get around Irvine’s campaign contribution limit.

A couple of weeks ago, I reported that one of these committees (“Friends of Tammy Kim”) had been established to support Tammy Kim’s Mayoral campaign. A review of the paperwork filed with the City shows that the organization is entirely comprised of out-of-town interests.

Now, a second committee — under the direct control of candidate Tammy Kim —  has been created. So far, this new committee has taken in more than $167,000, mostly from out-of-town interests.

There is no doubt that these two committees have been established so that Tammy Kim can evade Irvine’s contribution limit. Huge sums of money — many hundreds of thousands of dollars — will be raised through these committees from out-of-town interests in a brazen effort to buy Irvine’s Mayoral seat.

Irvine voters need to be aware of what’s happening here. Our local democracy depends on an informed electorate that calls out corrupt politicians and their campaign finance schemes. There are a number of good candidates running for Irvine Mayor. Tammy Kim is not one of them.