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Home My WebLink About1988/06/13 Charter Review Commission Minutes . . . ( ( MINUTES OF THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE June 13, 1988 Council Conference Room 7:00 p.m. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Members Present: Chairman Campbell, Members Susan Fuller, Jack Blakely, Sharon Reid, Carlos Batara, Mary Frances Click Members Absent Charles Smith Staff Present: City Attorney Torn Harron Public Participating: Frank Scott, CROSSROADS Chairman Campbell called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. The Committee unanimously voted to consider the referral on the Youth Commission. Chairman Campbell stated that it was his sense that there was a consensus to have campaign contribution regulations in the Code rather than the Charter, but before taking any action, he invited Frank Scott of CROSSROADS to speak on this item. Frank Scott representing CROSSROADS stated that the basic interest of CROSSROADS is in land use planning. Campaign contributions have a significant impact on planning. This phenomenon has trickled down from Sacramento. Developers are often actually victims. The trend is towards more money in campaigns and people with business before the City are the main contributors. No system of regulation will be perfect because of court decisions and constitutional rights. He urged the Commi t tee to make the provision in the Pol i tical Reform Act, specifically Section 84308(c), which requires an official to disqualify him or herself if he or she has received $250 in contributions from a party within the preceding 12 months applicable to councilmember. He also urged a prohibition on corporate or business contributions and contributions from f ranchi sees of the Ci ty. He stated that the cur rent pattern of contributions gives the appearance of corruption. Member Fuller asked what CROSSROADS position would be on the Committee's proposal to put a general statement in the Charter requiring Council to adopt a campaign contribution ordinance in the City Code. Scott said that this would be okay with CROSSROADS. ( ( . Charter Review Minutes June 13, 1988 Meeting Page Two Member Click felt that expenditures are a bigger problem than contributions. Harron explained the problem with the current state of the law. Buckley v. Vallejo prohibits mandatory expendi ture 1 imi tat ions and Proposi tion 73 adds a new section, Government Code 85300 which prohibits public financing which was the key to having voluntary limitations. . Member Batara asked for an additional week to review the materials. He suggested that we might want to decide what the regulations are going to be before we decide whether they belong in the Charter or the Code. Chairman Campbell pointed out the time consequences of putting off this decision. If the regulations are to go in the Charter, they must be completed by the end of July. Member Batara fel t that the proposed general language in the Charter should not preclude additional regulations relating to matters such as disclosure. Chairman Campbell said that he felt a $250 limit is unfair and Member Click said she felt it deprives voters of representation. Chairman Campbell stated he was against limi tat ions on business contributions and Member Click agreed. Chairman Campbell felt that this discriminates against businesses as opposed to indi viduals. He fel tit would also be difficul t to enforce. Member Reid related that it has been successfully enforced by the County. Chairman Campbell noted that he didn't feel as strongly about a bar against franchisees doing business with the City. Member Batara stated that he has problems with businesses, corporations and PACs making contributions. He agrees with CROSSROADS. Allowing these contributions makes it easy to avoid the limitations. Member Blakely noted that any plan will have flaws and be subject to abuses. Member Fuller felt there should be some cap on contributions and likes the idea of precluding voting for a period of time. This kind of regulation now exists with regard to sources of income. Member Batara noted that there are actually two issues: (1) the effect of money on the election and (2) the effect on the candidate after he or she is elected. . Member Blakely stated that he has no problems with a prohibition against business contributions and Member Fuller stated that she was torn on this issue. She prefer to limit the amount but not to prohibit businesses. Member Click felt that contributions don't have that much effect on votes. Member Reid fel t that there was a reasonable argument to prohibit business contributions and also feels that all contribution should be disclosed. Member Batara supported this. " ( ( . Charter Review Minutes June 13, 1988 Meeting Page Three Member Reid noted the problem wi th loans to a campaign. After the election, it's easy to get contributions to the winner to pay off these loans. Chairman Campbell didn't feel that post-election indebtedness has been a problem in Chula Vista. Member Reid expressed her concern about the growing number of contributions coming in after the last disclosure deadline. Member Fuller stated that this has become a classic election ploy. Member Blakely felt that regulation on "late" contributions will make the candidate run a better campaign. A post-election contribution limit of $25 would prevent buying influence with the winner. Member Batara felt that this would be a viable idea. A group discussion on how money received to reimburse loans is reported ensued. It was unanimously agreed to change the proposed general language by deleting the word "limiting" and inserting the words "related to" so that now the proposed Charter language will read: . It is the policy of the Ci ty to avoid the potential for undue or improper influence over elected officials resulting from excessive campaign contributions. In furtherance of that purpose, the City Council shall adopt reasonable regulations related to campaign contributions which shall be contained in the City Code. Member Campbell noted that the first item next week will be the question of whether to have a general statement in the Charter or to consider specific regulations for the Charter. YOUTH COMMISSION Member Reid noted the ambiguity in the Charter with regard to a residency requirement and the unsatisfactory resul t of the vote that opposed non-residents on Council created boards and commissions. She fel t that the Charter needed to be amended so that its terms are clear rather than continue to rely on an inference taken from a vote to interpret ambiguous language. Member Batara felt that the Youth Commission should be limited to City residents. Members Fuller and Click agreed. . Member FUller/Reid (MSUC) moved that the Charter be amended to require that all members of boards and commission, whether they are Cha rter created commissions or Counci 1 created commi ssions, must be residents and electors of the City with the exception of the Youth Commission, whose members must only be residents. . . . .- ( ( Charter Review Minutes June 13, 1988 Minutes Page Four RUNOFFS Chairman Campbell noted his opposition to runoffs. He felt the subject has been adequately dealt with in the past. Members Fuller and Blakely agreed. Chairman Campbell stated that we have been through this issue in detail. Member Reid noted that she would only differ if we were to go to district elections. Member Click felt there has been no problem with the current system. Member Batara agreed that the system should not be changed unless we were to go to district elections. Member Reid/Batara (MSUC) moved that the Committee give no further consideration to runoffs with the caveat that should we decide to consider district elections, this might corne up again. The Chairman adjourned the meeting to the next meeting on June 20, 1988 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Conference Room. The meeting ended at 9:06 p.m. 4285a w~