Maimounah Masudi praises the Fayetteville Observer in a letter for their support of the efforts to win and expand the Voter Owned Elections public financing program in North Carolina which Masudi says "is crucial to the election process, because it is designed to allow the average citizen to be put on a level playing field with big money donors."Perhaps more skeptical of the promises of public financing is this article about efforts underway by the California Clean Money Campaign to advance a Clean Elections law in San Rafael, part of Marin County. Still, supporters get to make their arguments for going with public financing:  Freshman Councilman Greg Brockbank is a longtime supporter, currently serving as chair of the Marin working group of the California Clean Money campaign. "I think that the reason there were so few candidates running for City Council last fall is because people are afraid to have to raise what's a bunch of money," he said, noting that in Novato, the average council race runs upwards of $80,000. "That's where San Rafael is headed in the next few years if we don't do something," Brockbank said.