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Different Rules for UTLA-PACE
The latest campaign and independent expenditure (IE) committee disclosures are being released today, January 24th, but you won’t find anything there from one of the city’s most powerful IE committees, UTLA-PACE. Why not? It’s because there are two different types of IE committees functioning in city-wide and LAUSD Board races — ‘general purpose committees,’ and...
By Samantha Oltman | January 24, 2013
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Contribution Roundup: Who’s Giving to Whom?
We listed notable contributions to the Garcia campaign yesterday and updated contribution reports are due tomorrow, but while we’re waiting let’s take a look at the contributions to candidates from earlier this month: •District 6 School Board member Steve Zimmer has raised $27,688 from notable donors including former State Assemblymember Betsy Butler (who lost her bid for...
By Hillel Aron | January 23, 2013
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Contributions / Spending Calendar*
Wondering how to track all the money flowing into and out of the different campaigns for School Board and the independent expenditure (IE) committees that support them? It’s still not as easy to figure out as it might be — but we’re here to help. The most up-to-date filing schedule can be found here, on...
By Samantha Oltman | January 23, 2013
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Senior District Employee Gives to Garcia
School Board President Monica Garcia’s latest campaign finance statement includes some familiar names — including a $1,000 contribution from LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Jaime Aquino, a top aide to Superintendent John Deasy. While it’s illegal to solicit campaign contributions from Los Angeles city employees, it is perfectly legal for employees to give on their own accord,...
By Hillel Aron | January 22, 2013
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Update: Outside Money Pouring In
Semi-annual financial disclosure forms for independent expenditure (IE) committees aren’t due to the City Ethics Commission until January 31. However, some information can be obtained from the City Ethics Commission in between these reports. For example, the Coalition for School Reform — a group of advocates including (but not limited to) charter school proponents — raised...
By Hillel Aron | January 14, 2013
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Fundraising: Early Leads for Garcia, Anderson
The most recent quarterly campaign fundraising numbers are in (courtesy of the wonderful City Ethics Commission’s website), and the big winners so far are school board President Monica Garcia and challenger Kate Anderson. These figures cover direct contributions to the candidates’ campaigns, which are capped at $1,000 per person, through December 31. They don’t include...
By Hillel Aron | January 11, 2013
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Thursday’s Big Reporting Deadline
This Thursday is the 4th quarterly filing deadline for municipal candidates (as well as independent expenditure committees), including those running for LAUSD school board, which will tell us how much money everyone raised during the last three months of 2012. It’s a sort of awkward period, since much of it occurred before candidates officially declared...
By Hillel Aron | January 8, 2013
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Turnout Could Reach 30 Percent, Says Consultant
Conventional wisdom is that voter turnout is always relatively low for local elections—especially so for school board races. And this is often true. In off-year election cycles, when the only offices up for vote are City Council or Board seats, turnout can be as low as 11 percent. Relatively small numbers of voters can sway...
By Samantha Oltman | December 21, 2012
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UTLA-PACE’s Robust Campaign Chest
As the 2013 race for three LAUSD School Board seats heats up, so will the political fundraising that pays for the candidates’ campaigns. Just as they have in recent elections, independent expenditure (IE) committees are again likely to eclipse direct donations to candidates’ campaigns. At least one IE committee is ahead of the game: UTLA-PACE,...
By Samantha Oltman | December 5, 2012
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Election ’13: Undisclosed Donors?
Independent expenditure (IE) committees are poised to once again spend millions in the upcoming March 2013 LAUSD Board election, but despite city disclosure laws, the information available to the public is limited and uneven. One of the main reasons is that while the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission requires IE committees to disclose all contributions,...
By Samantha Oltman | November 16, 2012