Unendorsed

I cannot understand the reasoning behind The Independent‘s non-endorsement of Proposition 15, the California Fair Elections Act [“Endorsements,” 5/20/10]. You refer to the $6 million that would come from increased registration fees for the state’s 4,300 or so lobbyists if the measure passed. Then, in the next sentence, you say, “Instead, using less than half that amount, the state should pioneer meaningful improvements in reporting campaign donations and figure out better ways to disseminate that information to the public.” Where is “half that amount” ($3 million) or less supposed to come from? Please explain.

Also, wouldn’t it be better to stop the corrupting influence of campaign donations (as Prop. 15 aims to do) rather than to merely report the donations? One wonders, should campaign donations be reported, how many voters would actually take the time to research and assess the merits or agendas of the various donors?—Frankie Morris, Santa Barbara

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Santa Barbara Indy, did you forget there were two Republicans running in the Assembly District 35 primary race? Maybe you should endorse one of them to at least pretend to be non-biased. If you want to be a respected newspaper, you have to be fair and balanced, which you are not doing.—Daniel Goldberg, Republican candidate for 35th Assembly District (on Facebook)