COMMON Cause Calif

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“Voters across the political spectrum are clamoring for something to be done about the problem of big money in our political system.,” said Sylvia Moore, Southern California Organizer for California Common Cause. “Everyone should have an equal voice in our democracy – not just those with access to the biggest pocketbook.”

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https://www.commoncause.org/california/

commoncauseca

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california Common Cause

Los Angeles Office / 430 S. Garfield Ave. Suite 418 / Alhambra CA 91801

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California Common Cause has tapped Jonathan Mehta Stein as the new executive director to lead the nonpartisan democracy reform organization starting May 1, 2020. Stein brings a wealth of experience working in traditionally underserved communities to increase civic participation and equitable representation, particularly in the areas of voting rights, campaign finance and redistricting.

“We welcome Jonathan as the new leader of California Common Cause. He is deeply committed to our issues and has a track record of fighting to improve democracy for all Californians,” said Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project at University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy and current board chair of California Common Cause.

Prior to joining Common Cause, Stein served as head of the Voting Rights & Census Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco. His work there included securing passage of the strongest state law in the nation guaranteeing language access in voting and managing the nation’s largest field poll monitoring program in November 2016. Before that, Stein served as a staff attorney for the ACLU of California. Stein has chaired the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and the California Common Cause board. While earning his Master in Public Policy and Juris Doctorate from University of California Berkeley, Stein served as the student regent on the UC Board of Regents.

“Jonathan is a unique leader whose passion for fulfilling the promise of America — that we all have a say in determining the future with our voice and our vote — is exactly what is needed in these challenging times,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “California is a model for the nation by proving we can end gerrymandering and reduce the influence of money in politics. With Jonathan Stein leading our work there, Common Cause will continue looking ahead and finding practical solutions strengthening the voice of the people in our democracy. We look forward to his commitment to inclusion shaping the future of California.”

“I follow a long line of Common Cause leaders. My predecessor Kathay Feng is the architect of California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission. I’m grateful for and humbled by their work,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein. “Looking forward, we have much left to do to achieve a truly representative California democracy that reflects the people of our state. I want to tackle our low voter turnout and our deep and persistent voter participation disparities with innovations that stimulate turnout and trust.”

As Stein takes the helm of California Common Cause, Kathay Feng, who has served as executive director since 2005, will focus full time on her role as Common Cause’s national director of redistricting & representation based in Los Angeles.

To keep up with our latest news reach us at:

Jonathan Mehta Stein jstein@commoncause.org Twitter at @_jonathanstein

Kathay Feng kfeng@commoncause.org Twitter at @kathayccc

California Common Cause at Twitter @CommonCauseCA and Facebook California Common Cause

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Official arguments

Sen. Ben Allen (D-26), Michele Sutter, co-founder of Money Out Voters In, and Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, wrote the official argument in support of Proposition 59 found in the state voters guide.Their argument was as follows:[[4]](https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_59,_Overturn_of_Citizens_United_Act_Advisory_Question_%282016%29#cite_note-OfficialVoterGuide-4)

https://www.commoncause.org/people/kathay-feng-2/

kfeng@commoncause.org

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https://ballotpedia.org/California_Common_Cause

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Staff Directory - California Common Cause

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Our mailing address is 805 15th Street NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005. Our telephone number is 202.833.1200.

Jonathan Mehta Stein

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

civil rights attorney and long-time democracy reform advocate, Jonathan became the Executive Director of California Common Cause on May 1, 2020, after 10 years on the California Common Cause Board of Directors and four years as Board Chair. Jonathan previously spent four years as the head of the Voting Rights & Census Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, where he worked to increase access to California’s democracy for historically disenfranchised communities, including immigrant and limited-English speaking voters, communities of color, low-income communities, and people with disabilities. His work at AAAJ-ALC included California’s passage of the strongest state-level law in the nation ensuring language access in voting, multiple appellate litigation wins that expanded access to democracy for communities of color, five poll monitoring programs including the nation’s largest in November 2016, and several community organizing campaigns that won better election systems at the local level for historically disenfranchised communities.

Jonathan previously worked as a voting rights staff attorney for the ACLU of California, served as a commissioner and chair of the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and hosted a web video series, produced by UC Berkeley, called “In the Arena.” While receiving his MPP and JD from UC Berkeley, Jonathan served as the Student Regent on the University of California’s Board of Regents, where he fought for access, diversity, and affordability and advocated for the interests of the 230,000 students of the UC system. Prior to graduate school, Jonathan spent four years at Mother Jones magazine as a researcher, assistant editor, blogger, and campaign correspondent during the 2008 presidential elections.

Alvin Valverde

OPERATIONS & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Pedro Hernandez

LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR

Pedro Hernandez is Legal and Policy Director for California Common Cause.

Pedro brings both experience and passion to electoral reform and community advocacy. Before joining California Common Cause, he worked as Senior Policy Coordinator for FairVote. He helped develop an education plan and helped implement a proportional representation system as part of a settlement in United States v. Eastpointe, and helped lead the effort to pass proportional representation in Albany, California. His work at FairVote included amicus support to defend the constitutionality of California Voting Rights Act. Through his local advocacy, he has helped strengthen San Francisco’s public finance system, and has conducted several mass voter education campaigns.

Pedro previously worked as an Associate at the Law Office of Robert Rubin where he specialized in claims under the California Voting Rights Act. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Race & Poverty Law Journal, and as Political Chair at UC Hastings La Raza Law Students Association.He previously served as an Education Equity Fellow at Public Advocates, clerked at the Equal Justice Society and California Rural Legal Assistance, and externed at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with a minor in American Studies, from the University of California, Davis; and J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he earned recognition for his outstanding achievement in providing pro bono legal services.

Alesandra Lozano

VOTING RIGHTS AND REDISTRICTING PROGRAM MANAGER

Maya Chupkov

MEDIA & DEMOCRACY PROGRAM MANAGER

Sean McMorris

TRANSPARENCY, ETHICS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM MANAGER

Alexandra Leal Silva

OPERATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Laurel Brodzinsky

LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

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sylvia so cal prop 59?

Advocacy and communications professional. Experience in political organizing, public speaking, and writing for newspapers, blogs and political campaigns. Able to gather and synthesize information from a variety of sources, and express ideas in a concise, persuasive and engaging manner. Able to work independently and collaborate on a team. Enthusiastic, creative and forward-thinking.

Specialties: Writing, interviewing, research, flexibility, time management, deadline pressure, critical thinking, problem-solving, social media/blogging.

Technology and Social Media: Action Network, PowerPoint, basic Excel, basic HTML, iPhoto, iMovie, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr

Experience

### Communications Lead

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment

Apr 2020 - Present1 year 1 month

Los Angeles, California, United States

Southern California Organizer

California Common Cause

Jul 2015 - Dec 2018 3 years 6 months

Los Angeles, California

Responsible for educating Common Cause activists about issues, advocacy and tactics. Also helped build strategy and public support for Common Cause’s campaign and legislative work, supported and administered activist trainings, spoke to community groups, and managed communications and outreach efforts. Sylvia has more than a decade of activism in Los Angeles County-area politics, having volunteered or worked on several political campaigns. She has also volunteered on behalf of campaigns…

### Field Organizer

Han Political Campaigns

Mar 2014 - Jun 20144 months

Los Angeles

Helped manage field campaign for former 26th California State Senate candidate, Betsy Butler. Managed door-to-door canvassers for voter contact, and helped manage phonebanks

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~ gerry

https://www.commoncause.org/california/

https://www.commoncause.org/california/our-work/reduce-moneys-influence/money-influence-legislation/

Money & Influence Legislation

When big business pays for a measure or a candidate, voters deserve to know. Check out our bold new transparency measures:

2020 Legislation

Local Campaign Finance Transparency

AB 2151 (Gallagher – Yuba City)

California Common Cause supported this Legislation

*Summary: *Transparency is one of the most effective means of combating the influence of big money in politics. Unfortunately, most campaign finance disclosures for local offices – like city council or school board – are filed as paper copies with either the local city clerk or county registrar of voters. This means members of the public who wish to review these records have to either appear before the clerk or registrar in-person or make a formal public records request, both of which take time and reduce government transparency. This bill would require local governments to post these campaign finance disclosures online so that anyone – the public, the press, or opposing candidates – can see them.

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2019 Legislation

Local Contribution Limits

AB 571 (Mullin – South San Francisco)

California Common Cause sponsored this Legislation

Summary:Existing law sets campaign contribution limits for statewide elective offices. This bill would set the same contribution limits for county and local elections. It would also allow jurisdictions to set their own contribution limits, should they decide to do so.

Disclose Act on Initiative Petitions

SB 47 (B. Allen – Santa Monica)

California Common Cause supported this Legislation

Summary:The Disclose Act on Initiative Petitions would bring much needed transparency to state and local petition campaigns. This bill would require the Official Top Funders of a petition committee to be identified in the petition materials. It would also require the committee to create a public website identifying their top contributors and to share updated contributor information with the Secretary of State.

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2018 Legislation

Political Party Committee Disclosures

AB 84 (Mullin -South San Francisco)

California Common Cause opposed this Legislation

Summary:AB 84 is a gut-and-amend bill that will be the biggest rollback of the Political Reform Act’s campaign finance laws in at least a decade. It allows the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Assembly and Senate to form and control their own “political party committees,” which enables them to solicit and receive contributions up to $36,500 for their targeted state races — that’s more than eight times the $4,400 maximum currently permitted by law. The bill makes it legal for legislative leaders, from these committees, to give unlimited amounts of money directly to state candidate committees. And it even enables legislative leaders, for the first time, to receive unlimited contributions that they can then spend in unlimited amounts on independent expenditures for and against candidates – something that is illegal under current law. It also makes modest changes to financial disclosures.

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Social Media Disclosure Act

AB 2188 (Mullin – South San Francisco)

California Common Cause is sponsoring this Legislation

Summary: This bill follows up on last year’s AB 249, the California Disclose Act, which was a major victory for California Common Cause. AB 2188 requires all online social media platforms to include a “Who funded this ad?” link on all sponsored posts on social media websites. Clicking on the link will take the user to a list of top three funders of the ad. AB 2188 will create clear, informative disclosures on social media advertisements and provide the public with a convenient way to see who is funds political ads on social media.

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Ballot Initiative Transparency

SB 651 (B. Allen – Santa Monica)

California Common Cause was involved in the drafting of this Legislation

Summary: SB 651 will improve disclosure on ballot measure petitions by requiring circulated initiative, referendum and recall petitions to include — either on the petition or on a separate document — an updated, accurate disclosure of the committee that paid for the petition, plus that committee’s top 3 funders. The measures proponents may also list up to three other supporters of the measure, in order to show broader support. Understanding who is funding and who supports an initiative campaign can provide valuable context to registered voters, and may inform their decision to sign or to more closely inspect the circulated petition.

related, no bills?

We deserve a democracy where each of us is represented and has a voice — and a government that works for every American, not just the wealthy few. It’s time to add much-needed balance to our democracy and enforce tougher rules to ensure politicians can’t be bought by the highest bidder.

Wealthy individuals and corporations don’t give away huge campaign donations for nothing. They’re buying influence and access from public officials who know how campaigns are funded in the current landscape, where big money dominates.

California Common Cause has been active in promoting campaign contribution limits, to limit the influence of a few wealthy donors, and ensure that elected representatives represent all Californians. Recently, we’ve carried legislation that would place default campaign contribution limits on city and county races. Unfortunately, powerful special interests, who are now taking advance of lax contribution restrictions, oppose our efforts—and that’s why we need your help.

prez

A civil rights attorney and long-time democracy reform advocate, Jonathan became the Executive Director of California Common Cause on May 1, 2020, after 10 years on the California Common Cause Board of Directors and four years as Board Chair. Jonathan previously spent four years as the head of the Voting Rights & Census Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, where he worked to increase access to California’s democracy for historically disenfranchised communities, including immigrant and limited-English speaking voters, communities of color, low-income communities, and people with disabilities. His work at AAAJ-ALC included California’s passage of the strongest state-level law in the nation ensuring language access in voting, multiple appellate litigation wins that expanded access to democracy for communities of color, five poll monitoring programs including the nation’s largest in November 2016, and several community organizing campaigns that won better election systems at the local level for historically disenfranchised communities.

helen grieco norcal petaluma

Common Cause Northern California Organizer Helen Grieco, right, speaks up about ALEC's actions towards climate change at Google headquarters, on Feb. 18, 2014. They are protesting Google's financial funding of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) because of ALEC's actions toward climate change

https://www.facebook.com/commoncauseca/posts/1084962671539211

Helen works with community activists, young professionals and students in the Bay Area. She teaches advocacy, organizing and activism tactics. She leads educational events, lobbying campaigns and actions to address campaign finance reform, government accountability, voting rights/reform, redistricting, media reform, fair elections campaigns, legislation and ballot initiatives.

Helen has decades of experience as an advocate and spokesperson for social, political and economic justice. She has trained community activists and leaders and is an author and producer of educational media. She was the founder B.R.A.V.E. People and is a former executive director of the California National Organization for Women. Helen holds a B.A. from San Francisco State University and an M.A. from Antioch University.

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fedsoc?! https://fedsoc.org/contributors/paul-ryan-1

3 events

James Bopp• Roger B. Clegg• Paul Josephson• Paul S. Ryan• Hans A. von Spakovsky

nat'l 2016

const, cts and democ theme

Paul S. Ryan

VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY & LITIGATION

PROGRAM

LEADERSHIP

Paul Seamus Ryan is the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause. He helps guide the organization's policy and litigation work in all substantive areas. Before joining Common Cause in October 2016, he worked as deputy executive director of the Campaign Legal Center. Paul has a law degree from the UCLA School of Law's program in public interest law and policy, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Montana. huffpo ~ djt

Common Cause is pleased to announce that veteran campaign finance attorney Paul Seamus Ryan will join Common Cause as Vice President for Policy and Litigation in late October. Mr. Ryan will lead Common Cause’s national efforts to reduce barriers to a more representative democracy, including obstacles to full participation like money in politics, gerrymandering, and vote suppression, guiding public policy campaigns and litigation. He will also support efforts for the organization’s 35 state operations working to create a 21st Century democracy that works for everyone.

Mr. Ryan has spent the last 12 years at the Campaign Legal Center where he has served as deputy executive director. He has specialized in campaign finance, ethics, and election law for more than 15 years and litigated campaign finance issues before federal and state courts throughout the United States.

“Paul’s expertise is a perfect fit for the Common Cause team. He has one of the best legal minds working to make sure our democracy resolves problems with the common good in mind, not wealthy special interests or partisans seeking power,” said Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn. “Paul joins Common Cause at a moment of tremendous resurgence in public interest about the health of our democracy as demonstrated in public opinion surveys and our own growth, now 625,000 supporters strong.”

“Common Cause is rooted in the principles of open and transparent government that works for the people, and these roots have made it a good government icon,” said Ryan. “I’m incredibly excited about Common Cause’s future and Karen’s vision for broadening the democracy movement to more fully include and empower women, communities of color and all other underrepresented communities. Under Karen’s leadership, Common Cause will enable generations to come to hold power accountable to the people.”

Mr. Ryan has testified as an expert on election law before Congress and regularly represented the Campaign Legal Center before the Federal Election Commission. He has testified before state and municipal legislative bodies and ethics agencies, and lectures at universities around the nation. Mr. Ryan also regularly provides consultation and assistance to elected officials, government agency staff and grassroots activists regarding campaign finance and other election policy development.

Mr. Ryan has published extensively on the subject of election law in journals including the Stanford Law and Policy Review and the Harvard Journal on Legislation. From 1999 to 2004 he served as political reform project director at the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law’s Program in Public Interest Law and Policy (2001) and the University of Montana (1998), and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State of California, the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.'---

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New York Times Magazine: Can America Restore the Rule of Law Without Prosecuting Trump?

11.17.2020 / BY JONATHAN MAHLER

New York Times Magazine: Can America Restore the Rule of Law Without Prosecuting Trump?

Campaign-finance laws were designed to limit the influence of private actors in elections — “to prevent not only the actual corruption of public officials but even the appearance of corruption that could undermine voter faith in government,” asPaul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at the election-watchdog group Common Cause, told me.

EARLY IN NOVEMBER, as President Trump challenged the integrity of the election with baseless lawsuits, Joe Biden delivered his first speech as president-elect, declaring it a “time to heal.” It was a phrase that many Americans were surely longing to hear, given the precarious state of the nation’s political culture. But it was also one that carried significant historical weight and possible implications for the future. When President Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, he, too, spoke about the need for “healing.” (Ford titled his subsequent memoir “A Time to Heal.”) When President Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address during the waning days of the Civil War, he spoke in similar terms about the imperative to “bind up the nation’s wounds.” Whether Biden intended to do so, his words provided an early signal about one of the first questions he is going to confront as president: What to do about Donald Trump? Biden faces many daunting challenges — mitigating the ongoing damage from the pandemic, repairing institutions, restoring faith in government — but how to deal with his predecessor’s flagrant and relentless subversion of the rule of law is in many ways the most vexing.

Last year, one of Trump’s lawyers, William Consovoy, memorably argued in open court that a sitting president could shoot a man in public and not be prosecuted. The legal validity of this claim notwithstanding, there is nothing to protect a former president from prosecution. No ex-president has ever been indicted before, but no president has ever left office with so much potential criminal liability. …

The stakes of prosecuting Donald Trump may be high; but so are the costs of not prosecuting him, which would send a dangerous message, one that transcends even the presidency, about the country’s commitment to the rule of law. Trump has presented Biden — and America, really — with a very difficult dilemma. “This whole presidency has been about someone who thought he was above the law,” Anne Milgram, the former attorney general of New Jersey, told me. “If he isn’t held accountable for possible crimes, then he literally was above the law.” …

An election-law case against Trump might be more appealing to a Biden Justice Department. When Cohen pleaded guilty to violating two campaign-finance laws in the Southern District of New York, he testified in federal court that Trump directed him to arrange for the hush-money payments. Trump was part of the investigation, but was protected by the Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. He was instead named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case — “Individual-1,” as the prosecution’s filings called him.

There is not much disagreement among campaign-finance experts about whether Trump could be indicted. The hush-money payments to Daniels and McDougal were clearly meant to prevent the disclosure of information that could have damaged Trump’s campaign. As such, they almost certainly violated several campaign-finance laws, including the prohibition against accepting contributions in excess of $2,700 and the failure to properly report contributions to the Federal Elections Committee. And because the amount of money involved exceeded $25,000, the violations would be considered felonies; each one would be punishable by up to five years in prison. Judging from the facts, it looks like a strong case. There is already material evidence of the scheme: Cohen presented congressional investigators with copies of canceled checks from Trump and the Trump Organization — reimbursements for the payments that he made to Daniels and that the Trump Organization classified as legal fees.

Campaign-finance laws were designed to limit the influence of private actors in elections — “to prevent not only the actual corruption of public officials but even the appearance of corruption that could undermine voter faith in government,” as Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at the election-watchdog group Common Cause, told me.

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Cressman was working for Common Cause in the fall of 2012when he and his colleagues discovered $15 million in contributions from undisclosed donors to oppose Prop 30, which sought to raise taxes on wealthiest in the state, and to support Prop 32, a so-called "paycheck protection" measure to further limit how unions can raise money and spend money during election season.

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cc supports HR1

https://www.commoncause.org/people/aaron-scherb/

Aaron Scherb joined Common Cause in May 2013 as the director of legislative affairs. In this role, he helps craft and gain support for various good-governance proposals, primarily related to campaign finance reform, voting rights, redistricting reform, and ethics/lobbying reform....