Recently, the Civitas Institute directed one of its interns to write up a misinformed attack on Chapel Hill's pioneering voter-owned elections (VOE) program ("Public Financing Folly," CHN Feb. 28). Why are far-right conservatives so threatened by campaign finance reform? Maybe because it means their well-financed propaganda will be less likely to buy elections, even in low-turnout local elections.

On Nov. 3, Chapel Hill voters showed their support for voter-owned elections. Both candidates who agreed to limit their campaign spending and participated in the VOE program finished first in their races for mayor (Mark Kleinschmidt) and Town Council (Penny Rich). Three out of four candidates who opposed the program, refused to limit spending, and accepted unlimited campaign donations were defeated by voters.

Last year Chapel Hill became the first community east of the Mississippi to conduct a voter-owned election. The program leveled the electoral playing field and helped reduce the influence of big money. Since then, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Greenville have passed resolutions seeking legislative approval to implement VOE programs.

The mayoral candidate who most vocally opposed public financing was first term council member Matt Czajkowski. And no wonder. Czajkowski raised more than $36,500 from wealthy backers and spent $35,000 of it.

After the election, Town Council top vote-getter Penny Rich said, "This is what voter-owned elections are supposed to curb. $30,000 to become mayor? It's just an outrageous amount of money."

In the six days leading up to the Nov. 3 vote, Czajkowski spent nearly $10,000 ($9,703), more than six times the $1,523 Kleinschmidt spent during that same period. Czajkowski desperately tried to buy the election, just as he first bought his Town Council seat in 2007 by spending the then-record sum of $20,000.

That year, 90 percent of his cash, or $17,750, was money he loaned his own campaign. Czajkowski's spending was more than the other three victorious council candidates spent combined. Foreshadowing his '09 tactics, in a last-minute flurry he blew through $15,000 in the 10 days before the 2007 election.

At the time, local activists had been fighting for nearly a decade to enact campaign finance reform in Chapel Hill. The cash flood by Czajkowski in 2007 was such a blatant display of the power of money to sway local elections that it helped convince the Town Council to commit to the voter-owned elections pilot. It was approved 8-1, with only Czajkowski opposed.

Now we know the VOE program works, and most Chapel Hill voters are behind it. And its success here is spreading. Propaganda machines like the Civitas Institute can make all the noise they want, but savvy voters will continue to support candidates who recognize the value of voter-owned elections.