5. Government Corruption
In California, it is routine for elected public officials to accept "gifts" from government contracting interests and then subsequently use their official position to vote to provide a target government benefit in return.  Consider East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) - the largest high school district in northern California.

ESUHSD board members - 2024
Example of how the corruption works
From 09/20/2020 to 10/17/2020, East Side Union High School District (ESUHSD) Trustee Pattie Cortese accepted $ 14081.05 from the East Side Teacher's Association (ESTA) that contracts with the school district.

On 5/20/2021, Pattie Cortese then uses her official position to vote to award ESTA with a no-bid government contract.  Institutionalized corruption results in the public receiving less public services because of the high contract rates enjoyed by gifters.

See Patti's "gifts" from ESTA.
See ESUHSD Board Meeting Minutes showing Patti's vote to approve the ESTA contract.
Sampling of documents showing ESUHSD elected Trustees accepting "gifts" from government contractors
Elected Official Gifts Amount Source
Pattie Cortese $ 14081.05 Form 460
$ 15000.00 Form 460
$ 1000.00 Form 497
$ 10079.82 Form 460
$ 2000.00 Form 460
$ 9879.82 Form 460
Bryan Do $ 12422.20 Form 497
$ 1659.84 Form 497
$ 14081.04 Form 497
Van Le $ 400.00 Form 460
$ 400.00 Form 460
$ 400.00 Form 460
Lorena Chavez $ 2400.00 Form 460
$ 4450.00 Form 460
$ 1550.00 Form 460
$ 2000.00 Form 460
$ 2000.00 Form 497
Manuel Herrera $ 1900.00 Form 460
$ 1300.00 Form 460
Elected officials receiving "gift" from contractors inflates payments to the gifters and reduces service to the public.
Notes:
1) Search online on how to get Election FPPC 460 forms for elected officials
2) Many Election FPPC 460 forms are not online but rather in paper form.
3) Nowadays, there is no good reason for candidates to accept "gifts" from anyone - the internet provides a virtually free medium for candidates to express their own election platform.