For those not yet up to date on the "Clean Money, Clean Elections" (CMCE) full public funding concept, there is a forum on Thursday, June 14, at 7:30, at the Brooklyn Borough Hall Court House, 209 Joralemon St.

Meanwhile, the City Council's so-called "campaign finance reform" bill is all but certain to sail through and give several people the opportunity to pat themselves on the back. But it is nothing like real reform.

This bill will still allow people doing business with the city to give, or raise, lots of money for the candidates of their choice -- and qualify for matching funds at an ever-higher rate.

It will create a new bureaucracy, requiring more work by the Campaign Finance Board and more headaches for candidates.

It does nothing to stop the near-certainty that most candidates for citywide office in 2009 will opt out of the system, because they'll be able to raise more money on their own than they'd be allowed to spend if they accepted matching funds.

We need to spread the word that matching fund systems are a complete failure. They don't limit spending, and they don't level the playing field between those who can raise lots of money and those who can't.