On Tuesday (Nov 4) I wrote, in "Citizens United in Action," about the Chevron Oil Company's attempt to buy an entire mayor and city council in the small city of Richmond, CA, where it operates a refinery.
A little more information from Rachel Maddow last night. Repeated disasters of explosions and fires have become a nightmare for Richmond. One huge fire two years ago sent 50,000 people to the hospital. The city government decided to do something about it and began pressuring Chevron to install new safety measures.
So this year, Chevron decided to buy a new city government for Richmond, one that would be Chevron-friendly. It poured $3 million into support for its own hand-picked new candidates for mayor and council. The incumbent mayor raised about $40,000, in contrast to the three million used against him.
And what did Chevron get for its three million? Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
The mayor and all seven councilors were re-elected.
That's what I wanted to see all over this election cycle -- that the money in politics problem would take care of itself when the mega donors found out that they didn't get much bang for the buck. It's not yet clear whether this was true overall, but it certainly proved true in Richmond, CA. Bravo to local control.
Ralph
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