Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07251995 - D4 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I.O.-3 6E L . INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ° . Contra .FROM: .�•`� � .f \, Costa July 17, 1995 County DATE: (Gsrq`cou-' c� SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE CAMPAIGN SPENDING REFORM ORDINANCE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)d BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. SELECT either Version A or Version B of the Ordinance attached to County Counsel's July 20, 1995 memorandum (attached), and INTRODUCE, WAIVE reading, and FIX August 1, 1995 as the date to adopt an Ordinance amending Ordinance 95-8, the Campaign Spending Reform Ordinance, in order to clarify when a candidate for county supervisor can file his or her statement agreeing to be bound by the spending limits in Ordinance 95-8 and thereby accept contributions at the higher levels permitted in the Ordinance. 2. REQUEST staff from the County Counsel's Office, Assistant Registrar of Voters, and District Attorney's Office to consult with each other and return to the Internal Operations Committee on August 7, 1995 with recommendations on the following: ❑ Determine whether it is necessary to amend Ordinance Code Section 530-2.707 (d) in order to clarify to which ceiling ($80,000 or $90,000) the notification requirement applies and, in fact, whether the reporting requirement in this Section is even enforceable. ❑ Amendments to Ordinance Code Section 530-2.707 (d) to permit reporting that a candidate has exceeded the contribution or expenditure limit to be done on the next regular business day as well as on the day the contribution or expenditure ceiling is exceeded. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD OIC APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER .J u ny All persons desiring to speak on this matter were heard. Therefore, IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the recommendations of the Internal Operations Committee on the Campaign Spending Reform Ordinance are APPROVED- introduced the Ordinance specifying Version A, as noted in the July 21, 1995, memo from County Counsel, waived reading, and FIXED August 1, 1995, for adoption. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES:. NOES: ,�_ AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ���. -} OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: � ATTESTED See Page 3 PL BATA ELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR M382 (10/88) BY DEPUTY ❑ Determine whether it is possible to amend Ordinance 95-8 in order to make the voluntary acceptance of the lower expenditure limits irrevocable, once accepted, so that a candidate, once he or she has agreed to accept the lower expenditure limits, cannot change his or her mind. BACKGROUND: On June 27, 1995, the Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee a proposed amendment to the Campaign Spending Reform Ordinance which the Board had adopted on April 25, 1995. On July 17, 1995, our Committee met with staff from the County Counsel's Office, the District Attorney's Office, the Clerk-Recorder's Office and interested citizens to discuss the need for some technical amendments to the Ordinance. As outlined in the memorandum from the County Counsel's Office to the Board of Supervisors dated June 21, 1995, the Ordinance as adopted allows a candidate to file his or her statement agreeing to accept the lower expenditure limits only within 113 days of the election, because it refers to filing the statement at the time the candidate files the declaration of candidacy, which can only be filed between 113 and 88 days before the election. Jim Sepulveda, from the District Attorney's Office, indicated that he would be concerned about a successful Constitutional challenge to this provision on the basis that it tends to favor incumbents by restricting the ability of candidates to accept the higher contribution levels until the last 113 days of the campaign. Mr. Sepulveda could not, of course, anticipate how any given court would rule on this issue, but suggested that the longer the period of time the less likely a court would find that the Ordinance discriminated in favor of incumbents. Our Committee discussed several alternatives and finally agreed that the voluntary statement should be filed at any time between 12 months before the election and the date the candidate files his or her declaration of candidacy. The County Counsel's Office has drafted two versions of an amendment to the Campaign Spending Reform Ordinance to effect this change in time period and our Committee is recommending that the Board of Supervisors introduce the Ordinance today, waive reading and fix next Tuesday for adoption of the ordinance, meaning that it should be effective on or about August 31, 1995. Version A provides that the statement is filed prior to the Primary Election and serves throughout the election cycle, including the General Election. Version B would require that another statement be filed after the Primary and before the General Election. Mr. Sepulveda also pointed out what, from his perspective, were some areas in which the Ordinance was vague as to its intent, making his job of enforcing the provision of the Ordinance more difficult. One of these is the reference in Section 530-2.707 (d) to "the voluntary expenditure ceiling", since in the case of a candidate who is able to collect large numbers of small contributions, the candidate is allowed to spend up to $10,000 over the voluntary spending limit of$80,000. Another is the requirement that a candidate who has not agreed to observe the lower expenditure limits notify the election division when he or she exceeds the expenditure ceiling, either by receiving contributions or making expenditures, "on the day" the expenditure ceiling is exceeded. This is clearly not realistic on the weekends, holidays or after normal business hours. We have, therefore, asked that an amendment be prepared which would add something to the effect of"on the next regular business day" to the current requirement. Mr. Sepulveda has a concern about whether it is even possible to enforce this reporting requirement on the part of a candidate who has decided not to accept the lower expenditure limits. We have asked that staff discuss this potential problem and return to our Committee with their recommendations. 2 I.O.-3 Supervisor Rogers has also asked that staff consider whether it is necessary to amend the Ordinance to prevent a candidate who has accepted the voluntary expenditure limits from later changing his or her mind and simply notifying the elections division that he or she will henceforth not be bound by the expenditure limits, even though he or she may already have raised funds in excess of the $100 contribution limit applicable to candidates who have not adopted the expenditure ceiling. The County Counsel's Office indicated that it was their view that this was already the effect of the Ordinance. Mr. Sepulveda suggested that since accepting the expenditure limits is voluntary in the first place, it may not be possible to prevent a candidate from simply deciding not to observe the voluntary limits. Staff will discuss this issue and return to our Committee with some comments and recommendations. Rather than delaying any further the needed amendment to the time limits for filing the statement agreeing to be bound by the lower expenditure limits, we are recommending that the Board go ahead and act on this amendment. Depending on the nature of our discussions on August 7, 1995, we may bring additional amendments to the Board of Supervisors thereafter. cc: County Administrator County Counsel County Clerk-Recorder Assistant Registrar of Voters District Attorney 3 COUNTY COUNSEL'S OFFICE CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ,CALIFORNIA Date: July 21, 1995 To: Board of Supervisors From: Victor J. Westman, County Counsel By: Mary Ann McNett Mason, Deputy County Counsel ' "� Re: Revision to Proposed Ordinance amending Campaign Spending Reform Ordinance Attached please find revised copies of Versions A and B of the proposed amendment to section 530-2.707 . Each version is revised to delete the final sentence from Section III of the proposed amendment. This sentence dealt with the treatment of contributions accepted and loans made prior to the effective date of Ordinance 95-8 for elections occurring after that date . Upon review of the Internal Operations Committee report on its meeting of July 17, 1995, it is not clear that the Committee requested that this matter be addressed in the proposed amendment. Therefore, we have revised the proposed amendment to delete this issue and suggest that it be referred to the Committee for additional consideration. MAM\am attachments VERSION A ORDINANCE NO. 95- (Statement of acceptance of voluntary campaign expenditure limits for supervisorial campaigns ) The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors ordains as follows (omitting the parenthetical footnotes from the official text of the enacted or amended provisions of the County Ordinance Code) . SECTION I . SUMMARY. This Ordinance amends section 530-2. 707 of the Fair Campaign Ordinance to provide that after that date which precedes a primary election by twelve months, a supervisorial candidate may file with the County Clerk a statement under penalty of perjury accepting the voluntary campaign expenditure limits . The Ordinance also specifies the time at which a recall candidate may file a statement accepting the voluntary campaign expenditure limits . The Ordinance also adds an uncodified section clarifying the Board' s intent that candidates who accepted contributions after the effective date of Ordinance 95-8 and who thereafter adopt the voluntary expenditure ceiling may accept only the balance of the total amount of the higher differential contribution limit. SECTION II . Section 530-2 . 707 is amended to read: 530-2 . 707 Voluntary expenditure limits (a) Statement accepting expenditure ceiling. All candidates, other than recall candidates, who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) may accept contributions in the amounts specified in section 530-2. 703 , subsection (b) and section 530-2 . 704 , subsection (b) . All recall candidates who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) may accept contributions in the amounts specified in section 530-2 . 703, subsection (c) and section 530-2 . 704, subsection (c) . All candidates who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c ) may loan their campaigns money up to the amount specified in section 530-2 . 706 , subsection (b) . Before accepting any contributions or making any loans within the amounts specified in sections 530-2 . 703 , subsections (b) and (c) , 530-2 . 704 , subsections (b) and (c ) , and 530-2 . 706 , subsection (b) , a candidate must file with the County Clerk- election division a statement, signed under penalty of periurV, which states that the candidate adopts the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) below. ORDINANCE NO. 95- 1 (b) Time for filing statement adopting expenditure ceiling. The statement may be filed by a candidate, other than a recall candidate, at any time after that date which is twelve months before the date of the primary election for the office and until such time as the candidate files his or her declaration of candidacy. In the event the candidate is not elected to office in the primary election and enters the runoff election, such statement shall apply for both the primary and general election. The candidate need not file a separate statement adopting the expenditure ceiling for the general election. A recall candidate may file the statement adopting the expenditure ceiling at any time after the date the recall measure is certified for the ballot until thirty days before the recall election. (c) Amount of expenditure ceiling. During an election cycle, candidates who agree to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling shall not incur campaign expenditures exceeding eighty thousand dollars ( $80,000) , except as set forth in subsection (d) below. (d) Contributions from individuals . During an election cycle, a candidate who accepts the voluntary expenditure ceiling and who raises twenty percent of the amount of that ceiling in contributions of less than one hundred dollars ( $100 ) from individuals residing in the supervisorial district in which the candidate stands for election, may incur ten thousand dollars ($10, 000) in campaign expenditures in addition to that amount permitted in subsection (c) . (e) Notification by candidate who exceeds ceiling. A candidate who declines to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling and who receives contributions or makes expenditures equal to or exceeding the amount of the expenditure ceiling shall notify the County Clerk-election division by both telephone and guaranteed overnight mail on the day the expenditure ceiling is exceeded. ( f ) Exclusions . For purposes of this Article, expenditures subject to the expenditure ceiling do not include: ( 1 ) expenditures for campaigns for other offices; ( 2 ) expenditures for campaigns for the office of Supervisor which occurred prior to the effective date of this ordinance; ( 3 ) expenditures for office holder expenses . "Office holder expenses" means those expenditures arising out of the office holder' s official duties which directly assist the office holder in performing his official duties , or which directly relate to a governmental purpose . "Office holder expenses"include but are not limited to, (a ) donations to charitable organizations ; (b) the cost of tickets to political events ; (c ) the cost of postage, office ORDINANCE NO. 95- 2 supplies, stationary and similar expenses related to the conduct or performance of the office holder's governmental duties; (d) reasonable expenses for travel to conferences, seminars., educational events and similar activities. related to the office holder' s position; (e) the cost of books or publications reasonably related to the office holder's position; ( f ) litigation expenses related to the office holder' s actions as a supervisor. The expenses listed in items (a) through (f ) shall not be considered "office holder expenses" if they are used in connection with any office holder' s campaign for a future term of office as a Supervisor. (Ords . 95- 2; 95-8 . ) SECTION III . EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTION OR LOAN OF MONEY AFTER MAY 25, 1995 . It is the Board of Supervisors ' intent that if a candidate accepts a contribution after May 25, 1995 for an election occurring after that date from either an individual contributor or a broad based political committee, and thereafter files the statement adopting the voluntary expenditure ceiling, during the remainder of the election cycle for that election such candidate may accept from the same contributor or committee no more than an amount which when combined with the earlier contribution will not exceed the maximum amount specified in section 530-2 . 703 (b) or 530-2 . 704 (b) respectively. If after May 25, 1995 such candidate loans money to his or her campaign for an election occurring after that date and then adopts the volunta7ry. expenditure ceiling, during the remainder of the election cycle for that election, such candidate may loan his or her campaign no more than an amount which when combined with the earlier loan will not exceed the maximum amount specified -in section 530-2 . 706 (b) . ORDINANCE NO. 95- 3 SECTION IV., EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance becomes effective 30 days after passage, and within 15 days after passage shall be published once with the names of supervisors voting for and against it in the , a newspaper published in this County. PASSED ON by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: PHIL BATCHELOR, Clerk of the Board and County Administrator By: Deputy Board Chair [SEAL] ORDINANCE NO. 95- 4 VERSION B ORDINANCE NO. 95- (Statement of acceptance of voluntary campaign expenditure limits for supervisorial campaigns) The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors ordains as follows (omitting the parenthetical footnotes from the official text of the enacted or amended provisions of the County Ordinance Code) . SECTION I . SUMMARY. This Ordinance amends section 530-2 . 707 of the Fair Campaign Ordinance to provide that after that date which precedes a primary election by twelve months, a supervisorial candidate may file with the County Clerk a statement under penalty of perjury accepting the voluntary campaign expenditure limits . The Ordinance also specifies the time at which a runoff candidate or a recall candidate may file a statement accepting the voluntary campaign expenditure limits . The Ordinance also adds an uncodified section clarifying the Board' s intent that candidates who accepted contributions after the effective date of Ordinance 95-8 and who thereafter adopt the voluntary expenditure ceiling may accept only the balance of the total amount of the higher differential contribution limit. SECTION II . Section 530-2 . 707 subsection (a) is amended to read: 530-2 . 707 Voluntary expenditure limits (a ) Statement accepting expenditure ceiling. All candidates , other than recall candidates , who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) may accept contributions in the amounts specified in section 530-2 . 703, subsection (b) and section 530-2 . 704 , subsection (b) . All recall candidates who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) may accept contributions in the amounts specified in section 530-2 . 703, subsection (c ) and section 530-2 . 704 , subsection (c) . All candidates who adopt the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c) may loan their campaigns money up to the amount specified in section 530-2 . 706 , subsection (b) . Before accepting any contributions or making any loans within the amounts specified in sections 530-2 . 703 , subsections (b) and (c ) , 530-2 . 704 , subsections (b) and (c ) , and 530-2 . 706 , subsection (b) , a candidate for a primary, general , or recall election must file with the County Clerk- election division a statement, signed under penalty of perjury, which states that the candidate adopts the expenditure ceiling specified in subsection (c ) below. ORDINANCE NO. 95- 1 (b) Time for filing statement adopting expenditure ceiling. The statement may be filed by a candidate, other than a recall candidate, at any time after that date which is twelve months before the date of the primary election for the office and until such time as the candidate files his or her declaration of candidacy. In the event the candidate is not elected to office in the primary election, enters the runoff election, and wishes to adopt the expenditure ceiling for the election cycle for the general election, the candidate must file a separate statement. Such statement may be filed at any time after the primary election results are final until thirty days prior to the general election . A recall candidate may file the statement adopting the expenditure ceiling at any time after the date the recall measure is certified for the ballot until thirty days before the recall election . (c) Amount of expenditure ceiling. During an election cycle, candidates who agree to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling shall not incur campaign expenditures exceeding eighty thousand dollars ( $80, 000 ) , except as set forth in subsection {d) below. (d) Contributions from individuals . During an election cycle, a candidate who accepts the voluntary expenditure ceiling and who raises twenty percent of the amount of that ceiling in contributions of less than one hundred dollars ( $100 ) from individuals residing in the supervisorial district in which the candidate stands for election, may incur ten thousand dollars ( $10, 000 ) in campaign expenditures in addition to that amount permitted in subsection (c ) . (e) Notification by candidate who exceeds ceiling. A candidate who declines to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling and who receives contributions or makes expenditures equal to or exceeding the amount of the expenditure ceiling shall notify the County Clerk-election division by both telephone and guaranteed overnight mail on the day the expenditure ceiling is exceeded. ( f ) Exclusions . For purposes of this Article, expenditures subject to the expenditure ceiling do not include: ( 1 ) expenditures for campaigns for other offices ; ( 2 ) expenditures for campaigns for the office of Supervisor which occurred prior to the effective date of this ordinance; ( 3 ) expenditures for office holder expenses . "Office holder expenses" means those expenditures arising out of the office holder' s official duties which directly assist the office holder in performing his official duties , or which directly relate to a governmental purpose. "Office holder expenses " include but are not limited to, (a ) ORDINANCE NO. 95- 2 donations to charitable organizations; (b) the cost of tickets to political events; (c) the cost of postage, office supplies, stationary and similar expenses related to the conduct or performance of the office holder' s governmental duties; (d) reasonable expenses for travel to conferences , seminars , educational events and similar activities related to the office holder's position; (e) the cost of books or publications reasonably related to the office holder' s position; (f ) litigation expenses related to the office holder' s actions as a supervisor. The expenses listed in items (a) through ( f ) shall not be considered "office holder expenses" if they are used in connection with any office holder' s campaign for a future term of office as a Supervisor. (Ords . 95- § 2; 95-8 . ) SECTION III . EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTION OR LOAN OF MONEY AFTER MAY 25 , 1995 . It is the Board of Supervisors ' intent that if a candidate accepts a. contribution after May 25, 1995 for an election occurring after that date from either an individual contributor or a broad based political committee, and thereafter files the statement adopting the voluntary expenditure ceiling, during the remainder of the election cycle for that election such candidate may accept from the same contributor or committee no more than an amount which when combined with the earlier contribution will not exceed the maximum amount specified in section 530-2 . 703 (b) or 530-2 . 704 (b) respectively. If after May 25, 1995 such candidate loans money to his or her campaign for an election occurring after that date and then adopts the voluntary expenditure ceiling, during the remainder of the election cycle for that election, such candidate may loan -his or her campaign no more than an amount which when combined with the earlier loan will not exceed the maximum amount specified in section 530-2 . 706 (b) . ORDINANCE NO. 95- 3 SECTION IV. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance becomes effective 30 days after passage, and within 15 days after passage shall be published once with the names of supervisors voting for and against it in the a newspaper published in this County. PASSED ON by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: PHIL BATCHELOR, Clerk of the Board and County Administrator By: Deputy Board Chair [SEAL] ORDINANCE NO. 95- 4