sr-110811-7fand8b (2)S_
ityo City Council Report
Santa Monica'
City Council Meeting: November 8, 2011
Agenda Item: Ilk/ -7 ' F
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk
Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Subject: Qualifying Donations for Candidates for City Office; Proposals Regarding
Campaign Contribution Limits
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that Council review and discuss the information and options provided
for requiring qualifying donations from candidates for election to city office, and for
modifying campaign contribution limits; and introduce for first reading the proposed
ordinance raising the City's contribution limit.
Executive Summary
At the March 22, 2011, meeting, after a discussion related to the possibility of charging
certain election fees, Council directed staff to explore requiring a small, multiple -
donation qualifying threshold of approximately $200 for a candidate to access the
estimated $14,000 in free taxpayer support per candidate that the City spends during
each election season. Council also directed staff to consider requiring more signatures
in lieu of paying the qualifying donation fee. Staff has explored this possibility and
reports that although the implementation of a multiple donation qualifying threshold is
possible, there are some issues for discussion. Finally, Council directed staff to return
with an ordinance increasing the contribution limit to $400 and adding an indexed
adjustment. A proposed ordinance responding to that direction is attached.
Background
The breakdown of the candidate support services, and their approximate cost, that is
provided by the City is as follows:
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Total Cost to shoot videos:
Total Editing and finalizing videos:
Technical work for airing videos on CityTV
Website space:
Total:
Mid -range cost of air -time per candidate:
$23,000
$ 8,600
$ 3,600
4,400
$39,600
$10,000 x 10 = $100,000
The total cost of $139,600, divided by an average of approximately 10 candidates for
office during the election, results in an approximate cost of $14,000, per candidate.
Staff checked with the cities of Los Angeles and Berkeley which were the only two that
responded to having both a candidate filing fee and a provision for submitting additional
signatures in lieu of paying the filing fee.
City of Berkeley
The City of Berkeley charges a flat $150 candidate filing fee and requires 20 registered
voter signatures to qualify as a candidate. The City also allows the filing of an additional
150 registered voter signatures in lieu of paying the filing fee - the equivalent of one
signature in lieu of $1 donation.
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles has a $300 filing fee and 500 signatures to qualify as a candidate. In lieu
of the filing fee a candidate may select to obtain and submit an additional 500
signatures - the equivalent one signature in lieu of $0.60 donation.
Discussion
Proposed multiple- donation process:
In order to qualify for City office in Santa Monica, currently a candidate must submit a
minimum of 100 valid voter signatures. Should Council want to implement a provision
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of requiring additional signatures in order to qualify for the free services described
above, staff would propose to publish a notice, 90 days before the filing period began,
which usually occurs in mid -July, advising potential candidates of the new mandatory
$200 filing fee to be obtained via $5.00 donations from 40 registered voters in the City.
Donation fee petitions would be issued to interested parties beginning 60 days before
the filing period started. The $200 fee and receipts would be due at the time that
nomination papers were filed with the City Clerk.
At the time of filing nomination petitions, in addition to the usual nomination list,
participating candidates would submit a separate set of nomination papers aka
"donation receipt list" containing the signature of the 40 (or more) individuals who
donated the qualifying amount of $5 each to the candidate. Staff would verify that the
donations came from registered voters in the City.
Receipt of this qualifying donation fee and the submittal of the separate formal
nomination petition with at least 100 registered voters would qualify a candidate and
make her /him eligible for the City - provided election support.
In -Lieu Signatures:
For potential candidates unwilling or unable to obtain the $5 donations, there would be a
provision for securing an additional 200 signatures from registered voters to qualify as a
candidate - the equivalent of $1 per signature. These additional signatures would be
submitted at the time that the regular nomination papers were filed with the City Clerk.
The verification of at least 300 registered voter signatures, 200 for the in -lieu fee and
100 for nomination of the candidate, would qualify the candidate and make him /her
eligible for the City - provided election support. An alternative provision would be the
requirement of 100 additional signatures —the equivalent of $2 per signature.
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Non - participant candidates:
Potential candidates who do not participate in the multiple- donation process, or submit
the in -lieu additional signatures, would pay the $200 filing fee. The fee could be paid by
the candidate from personal funds or could be paid from funds out of their campaign
committee. These candidates would not have free access to the City's events providing
exposure to the candidates including but not limited to, the printing translating and
mailing of their candidate statement, videotaping of candidates' appearances at forums
hosted by the City, airing of videotapes on CityTV, and posting of videos and candidate
statements on the City's website.
Non - participating candidates wishing to participate would be required to pay the
approximate costs for the production of these events, for the use of TV time and website
space, and for the printing and translating of their candidate statements.
Staff would make provision for a deposit of the estimated cost at the time of filing
candidate statements and payment of the balance prior to the day of the election.
Should Council wish to implement a qualifying donations requirement for candidates for
City Council, staff recommends that Council direct staff to return with an appropriate
ordinance amending the Municipal Elections Code. The alternate recommendation is to
take no action and continue with the current legislation, and have no charge or fee
requirement to qualify as a candidate for office.
Contribution Limits
The City's current contribution limit of $250 was established in 1992. Over the years, its
application has been adjusted, as necessary, to reflect changes in case law. In March
of this year, based upon legal advice, campaign costs, and other considerations,
Council directed staff to return with a proposed ordinance increasing the contribution
limit from $250 to $400 and adding an indexed adjustment. A draft ordinance is
attached. It proposes an adjustment every five years to reflect inflation, rounded to the
nearest five dollars.
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Overall, the First Amendment case law on campaign contribution restrictions has not
changed significantly since Council's last discussion of the matter. The staff reports for
the meetings of June 24, 2008, and March 22, 2011, provide summaries of that case
law and the limitations it imposes on local authority to limit contributions and
expenditures and thereby accomplish campaign reform.
There has, however, been one noteworthy development since March: the Ninth Circuit
issued a decision in Thalheimer v. San Diego, 645 F.3d 1109. In that case, a future
candidate, political action committees, the Republican Party, and a contributor sued to
enjoin enforcement of provisions of San Diego's law that: (1) restricted fundraising and
spending by committees; (2) , banned contributions outside a 12 -month pre - election
window; (3) prohibited contributions by some types of non - individual entities; and (4)
imposed a $500 limit on contributions to candidates and committees, which supported
or opposed a candidate. The federal district court issued a preliminary injunction
granting and denying preliminary relief as to the various provisions. Generally
speaking, the court enjoined enforcement of the fundraising/ spending limits for
committees, concluded that the $500 limit would likely be upheld and made mixed
findings as to the other restrictions.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit concluded that San Diego's interest in averting corruption
was not sufficient to support the municipal ordinance's limitation on spending and
fundraising by independent committees. Thus, the decision creates no new
opportunities for regulating contributions made to and expenditures made by
independent committees.
The Ninth Circuit also concluded that, given the applicable standard applicable to the
precise issue, it should defer to the San Diego City Council's determination that a
temporal ban was necessary. The court therefore upheld the prohibition against direct
contributions outside a 12 -month pre - election window.
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The court also upheld the ban on certain organizational contributions. In doing so, the
court distinguished the Supreme Court's holding in Citizens United (the government
may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker's corporate identity) on
the ground that San Diego's law drew a functional line between individual donors and all
non - individuals, not just corporations. However, the Ninth Circuit explained
contributions from political parties could not be banned.
The decision in Thalheimer effectively creates new possibilities for municipal
restrictions. Council may wish to discuss those possibilities and provide direction to
staff, particularly as to possibility of banning organizational contributions.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
As to the qualifying donations for candidates, there would be an increased cost for
verification of additional registered voter signatures both for the candidates that receive
the multiple donations and the participants that submit additional signatures in lieu of
the donations. The current cost of verifying a signature is $0.97 cents for most
signatures verifiable at a glance. If additional research is required in verifying the
signature or voter registration, if the signature is not legible or there is a discrepancy
with the voter's signature, name or address and the County has to conduct additional
research, the cost jumps to $2.45 per signature. Additional cost per candidate would
be, at a minimum, approximately $200 and, at a maximum, $500.
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Based on State law, the qualifying donations totaling $200 from candidates would be
kept by the candidate for election - related costs or would be deposited in his /her
campaign committee and could not be used to off -set the additional cost of verifying
signatures.
Prepared by: Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk
Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
Maria M. Stewart Rod Gould
Director, Records and Election Services City Manager
ATTACHMENT: Proposed Ordinance — Amending Section 11.04.050 of the Santa
Monica Municipal Code Relating to Contributions to Candidates for Office
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F: \atty \mu n i \laws \mj m \Limitatio nsOnContributionsOrd 110811
City Council Meeting: 11/8/2011 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTION 11.04.050 OF THE SANTA MONICA
MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica is known for its highly participatory local
democracy; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted various laws and policies intended to
encourage broad participation in the local political process; and
WHEREAS, among these laws is a contribution limit established in 1992 in the
amount of $250; and
WHEREAS, the law adopted in 1992 applies this limit to individuals, committees
controlled by candidates, and uncontrolled committees; and
WHEREAS, this limit has not been changed since 1992; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has preserved the 1992 limit in order to curtail the
influence of money and special interests upon the democratic process in Santa Monica;
.mine
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WHEREAS, in recent years decisions of the United States Supreme Court and
lower courts have invalidated campaign finance restrictions like Santa Monica's on First
Amendment grounds; and
WHEREAS, based on this development in the case law, the City Council has
determined that Santa Monica's contribution limit must be revised, in order to maintain
its constitutionality.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 11.04.050 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
11.04.050 Limitations on contributions from persons.
(a) No person shall make to any candidate for
office or to the controlled committee of such a candidate, a
contribution or contributions totaling more than four hundred
dollars for each election in which the candidate was on, is
on, or is likely to be on the ballot or in which the candidate
sought or seeks write -in votes.
(b) No candidate for office or the controlled
committee of such a candidate shall accept from any person
a contribution or contributions totaling more than four
hundred dollars for each election.
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(c) The limitations imposed by this section shall be
adjusted every five years, commencing on July 1, 2016, by
an amount equal to the percentage change in the CPI -W
Index for the Los Angeles /Riverside /Orange County area, as
published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics rounded to the nearest five dollars.
(d) This section shall not be interpreted or applied
to violate the right of association or the right to express .
views through expenditures. Rather, it is intended to be and
shall be applied solely as a limit on campaign contributions
to individuals and committees. (Prior code § 11203; added
by Ord. No. 1630CCS § 1, adopted 6/9/92, amended by Ord.
No. 2270CCS § 2, adopted 9/16/08)
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
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or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the
official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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