At its meeting last night, the Rockville Board of Supervisors of Elections discussed the , and voted to recommend the change to Rockville's Code I had suggested. I thank the Board for its prompt attention to my letter and I am satisfied that the appropriate steps are being taken to fix Rockville's elections law.
My concern in raising this issue was the certainty of our laws and the transparency of our elections.
Transparency is still at issue here. Once this fix is made, unlimited contributions will be allowed from candidates' spouses during the 2011 election without any corresponding disclosure of their financial conflicts. Changes are in the pipeline to require more extensive disclosure, but not in time for this election.
I am therefore calling for all candidates running for Rockville's Mayor and City Council this year to disclose their spouse's financial conflicts through filling out the standard Rockville "Statement of Financial Interests" form required of all candidates.
I care deeply about keeping our elections honest and accountable. I strongly believe that if we allow unlimited contributions from spouses, we should also require full disclosure of their financial conflicts.
The author is a candidate for Rockville City Council.
