City To Help Fund San Francisco Mayoral Campaigns

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to take $1.3 million out of the city's reserve fund to give to candidates running for mayor.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

It may seem like a lot of money to dole out at a time when the city has serious financial problems, but Supervisor John Avalos said it's also money mandated by voters to help candidates seeking public office.

"The public has a very important right to have elections that are free from the corrosive effect of money that might come from more corporate sources," said Avalos. "We want to do more of a grassroots effort in our campaigns."

However, Supervisor Carmen Chu said that they shouldn't take money out of the city's reserve fund now, when there's already more than enough to get mayoral candidates through the fiscal year.

"The reason why I will not be supporting the reduction of our reserves is the fact that we don't need it," said Chu.

There are eight major candidates in the mayor's race so far, and each one could theoretically qualify for $900,000 in public financing. So far, Dennis Herrera has picked up $270,000 of that money, and Bevan Dufty has received $305,000

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