Note: Prior ordinance history: Ords. 3624 and 3686.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide all candidates for
election to the City Council, regardless of financial resources, with
a means, subject to conditions, to disseminate candidate information
to the public.
(Ord. 3807 § 1, 2007; Ord. 3860 § 1, 2008; Ord. 4027 § 2, 2014)
As used in this chapter the following definitions shall apply:
means that a candidate for election to the City Council has
deposited in the candidate's campaign bank account campaign contributions,
from persons other than the candidate, totaling $1,000.00 or more
and has provided verification of this to the City Clerk or has filed
with the City Clerk a statement or statements, on a form supplied
by the City Clerk, endorsing the candidate for election to the City
Council signed by 100 registered voters of the City. The verification
of contributions or the endorsing statement(s) of the candidate shall
be filed with the City Clerk within a period of 14 days from the last
day that Council candidate nomination papers may be filed with the
City Clerk for the particular election. The City Clerk shall examine
the verification or statement(s) and shall certify its/their sufficiency
or reject the same.
means a candidate for election to the City Council who has
met, as certified by the City Clerk, one of the eligibility requirements
set forth in this chapter as is and who has executed a voluntary election
campaign spending limit agreement for the election and filed the executed
agreement with the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall not accept an
agreement for filing unless the City Clerk has certified that the
candidate has met one of the eligibility requirements.
means a total campaign expenditures limit of $45,000.00 for
a City Council election. "Campaign expenditures" has the same meaning
as "campaign expenditures" set forth in subdivision (b) of Government
Code Section 85400 and includes all such expenditures made by a candidate
and controlled committee(s) of the candidate. The limit shall be automatically
adjusted annually as of January 1st of each year, beginning January
1, 2011, based on the percentage change, if any, occurring over the
prior 12-month period (January through December) in the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics CPI-U (Consumer Price Index – All Urban
Consumers) for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California area.
means a form of agreement, approved by the City Attorney,
under which, among other things, a candidate agrees to the voluntary
election campaign spending limit and acknowledges and agrees to the
consequences of any violation of the campaign expenditure limit, as
provided in this chapter. The Voluntary Election Campaign Spending
Limit Agreement shall be filed with the City Clerk within a period
of 14 days from the last day that City Council candidate nomination
papers may be filed with the City Clerk for the particular election.
(Ord. 3807 § 1, 2007; Ord. 3860 § 2, 2008; Ord. 4027 § 2, 2014)
The City will provide each qualifying candidate space on its
public website for the candidate's name, address, phone number, fax
number, photograph and approved ballot designation, and a statement
of no more than 500 words, of the candidate's education and qualifications
expressed by the candidate him or herself. The content of the statement
shall be the sole responsibility of the candidate. The statement will
be posted exactly as submitted by the candidate with no editing by
City staff. The City shall not be responsible for any errors in statements
submitted by candidates and shall have no obligation to correct statements
once the statement has been posted. Any statement submitted in excess
of the 500 word limit will not be provided space on the City's website.
No qualifying candidate may include within his or her statement any
reference to another candidate, or the name of another committee,
or other person or entity unless that candidate shall have previously
obtained the written authorization of the candidate, committee, other
person or entity, to use such reference within the statement. Proposed
candidates' statements and an accompanying photograph (if any) of
the candidate (including no more than the head and shoulders), shall
be filed with the City Clerk by the nomination filing deadline for
the City Council election to which it applies. The order of the candidates'
statements, photographs and other information shall be the same as
the ballot order as determined by the Secretary of State's drawing
of a randomized alphabet for the applicable election. Qualifying candidates'
information for inclusion on the City's website must be filed with
the City Clerk within a period of 14 days from the nomination filing
deadline for the City Council election to which it applies. The City
website shall contain a link to the League of Women Voters website
so long as that website does not endorse or oppose candidates, covers
Santa Rosa City Council elections, and provides equal access on the
website to all City Council candidates.
City Council candidates who do not agree to the voluntary campaign
expenditure limit or who otherwise do not qualify for inclusion on
the City's public website will be listed on the City's public website
by name only with a notation that the candidate did not qualify for
public financing.
(Ord. 3807 § 1, 2007; Ord. 3860 § 1, 2008; Ord. 4027 § 2, 2014)
The City will provide space in a City mailer publication "Voter
Update" that will provide one-half page for each qualifying candidate
for candidate information. The edition of "Voter Update" will be printed
using black ink on white 8-1/2″ x 11″ pages. The first
page(s) will be for qualifying candidates' photographs, names, addresses,
ballot designations, phone numbers, fax numbers, and a cross-reference
to the page number that the qualifying candidate's statement appears
in that edition of the "Voter Update." The statement of each candidate
shall be printed in type of uniform size and darkness, and with uniform
spacing, in block paragraphs.
The City will provide each qualifying candidate one-half page
for the candidate's name, address, phone number, fax number, photograph,
ballot designation, email address, and website address and a statement
of no more than 200 words regarding the candidate's education and
qualifications expressed by the candidate him or herself. The content
of the statement shall be the sole responsibility of the candidate.
The statement will be printed exactly as submitted by the candidate
with no editing by City staff. The City shall not be responsible for
any errors in statements submitted by candidates and shall have no
obligation to correct statements once the Voter Update has been printed.
Any submittal in excess of the 200 word limit will not be printed
in the "Voter Update." No candidate may include within his or her
statement any reference to another candidate, committee, or other
person or entity unless that candidate shall have previously obtained
the written authorization of the candidate, committee, or other person
or entity, to use such reference within the statement. The order of
the candidates' statements, photographs, and other information shall
be the same as the ballot order as determined by the Secretary of
State's drawing of a randomized alphabet for the applicable election.
Qualifying candidates' information for inclusion in the "Voter Update"
must be filed with the City Clerk within a period of 14 days from
the nomination filing deadline for the City Council election to which
it applies. The "Voter Update" shall be mailed to postal patrons within
the City limits of the City of Santa Rosa no later than 30 days prior
to the date of the next Council election.
City Council candidates who do not agree to the voluntary campaign
expenditure limit or who otherwise do not qualify for inclusion in
the City's "Voter Update" will be listed in the "Voter Update" by
name only with a notation that the candidate did not qualify for public
financing.
(Ord. 3807 § 1, 2007; Ord. 3860 § 1, 2008; Ord. 4027 § 2, 2014)
Any candidate who has met one of the eligibility requirements
and has executed and filed a Voluntary Election Campaign Spending
Limit Agreement with the City Clerk and who makes one or more election
campaign expenditures in excess of the spending limit set forth in
the agreement shall be liable to the City for such violation(s) in
an amount equal to twice the total amount of all such expenditures
which are in excess of the agreed to spending limit. The candidate,
upon discovering said failure to abide by the Voluntary Election Campaign
Spending Limit Agreement shall immediately notify the City Clerk who
shall then, to the extent feasible, cease conferring the benefits
and incentives afforded by this chapter.
Any payment to the City for election campaign expenditures made
in excess of the spending limit set forth in the agreement shall be
used to offset the costs to the City of disseminating candidate information
to the public as set forth in this chapter.
(Ord. 3860 § 3, 2008; Ord. 4027 § 2, 2014)
