Protecting petitioners from retribution is one argument for exempting city secession drives from the kind of disclosure laws that govern nearly every other political campaign in the state. And Henri F. Pellessier is the last person who should be making such an argument.
Openness is in everyone's best interest.
Candidates for office, and initiative, referendum and recall drives, must report all contributions and expenditures. The potential consequences of breaking up the nation's second largest city are enormous. Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.