Evanston prepares to launch its public financing program
RFI ED Alisa Kaplan spoke to the Evanston RoundTable about how the launch of small donor matching in Evanston will fight “quid pro quo corruption” in which an entity donates to a campaign with the expectation of something in return, usually related to policy.
Explaining how the scheme will ensure that candidates “won’t have to rely on wealthy individuals or special interests to fund their campaign,” Kaplan said that candidates will begin to fund their campaign by asking “people for an affordable contribution that anyone can make.” This could restore trust in public officials by encouraging them to interact with members of their community instead of just appealing to big donors.
Kaplan also spoke about how the small donor matching initiative was finally able to pass in Evanston, “A lot of advocacy is waiting for good opportunities,” said Kaplan. “We had here an alderman in Juan Geracaris who was very interested in it. We had a mayor who’s championed this for years. We had a City Council that really understood the need for it.”
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