Divided council passes campaign finance reform

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Frustration marked the faces of Santa Barbara’s City Council as they struggled to come to an agreement on campaign finance reform issues at their meeting yesterday.
The members of the Council seemed to be in agreement on the reform ordinance up for discussion, which included guidelines on how campaign donations are reported and provided to the public. The issue of contention cropped up over when the proposed ordinance will take effect.
“I’m not very pleased that all of this work will not go into effect because something isn’t available,” Mayor Marty Blum said.
That “something” she referred to is an online system for providing campaign disclosure statements to the public. City staff said they will not be able to get a website for that purpose up and running before the November election this year. The ordinance included language that prevents any of it going into effect until the online system is available, which is expected to be in January or February of 2008.

A motion to remove that language and enact the part of the ordinance not concerning the online posting of disclosure statements was on the table during the meeting, but was later redacted. The Council eventually voted 4-3 to approve the ordinance as drafted, with Mayor Marty Blum and Councilmembers Iya Falcone and Helene Schneider dissenting.
Several community members in attendance said the city should simply scan and post finance disclosure documents online until the system is up and running.
“It’s a public document and we should take advantage of the 21st century technology and make it readily available to the public,” David Pritchett, representing Santa Barbara Clean Elections Working Group, told the Daily Sound.
City staff said scanning and posting donation disclosure documents would cost the city $10,000 a year in staff time to remove the addresses of contributors before posting them, which they said is recommended by state and federal officials including the State Attorney General. Santa Barbara contribution disclosure statements are currently available to the public at the City Clerk’s office at City Hall.
City staff also said dealing with campaign finance changes in the midst of the first election the city will host on its own might prove too difficult for staff to handle. They argued that splitting the ordinance may confuse the public, staff and candidates, and it would be wiser to wait and have the changes all go into effect at once.
The online system will allow electronic filing and disclosure statements be made available to the public immediately, city staff said. Once that system is in place, the rest of the ordinance’s changes will take effect.
Those changes include tightening state campaign regulations, requiring independent organizations that lobby for candidates to disclose expenditures, and creating guidelines for disclaimers on campaign mailings and commercials. Despite debate over when the ordinance will begin, the City Council seemed to be in accord over its expected impact.
“I think it is a major step forward,” Councilmember Roger Horton said. Councilmember Helene Schneider agreed, saying, “The priority is having an open, clean election that doesn’t result in confusion.”
State law currently requires candidates to disclose donations in excess of $1,000 within 24 hours. The ordinance will lower that threshold to $500. It will also require candidates to file a final disclosure statement the Thursday before an election, while state law only requires a statement 60 days before the election. All donations larger than $100 will require disclosure, and candidates will have to file a statement every two weeks.
Organizations or advocacy groups independent of any candidates will also have to file disclosure statements under the new ordinance. City staff clarified that only contributions specifically earmarked to support an issue or candidate will need to be disclosed. Nonprofit organizations or other groups that use money from their general funds to take a stance on a political issue will not be required to disclose their sources.
Also included in the ordinance is language outlining the “paid for by” disclaimer on campaign mailings and other communications. Independent groups will have to list every contributor that donated over $2,000 on any campaign materials they distribute. Mailers smaller than 24 inches by 36 inches will be required to include a disclaimer in size 12 font in a contrasting color.
Video statements also require a disclaimer, either written or spoken. For a 30-second TV spot, written disclaimers must appear on the screen for at least five seconds. A minute-long commercial will require a 10-second disclaimer. Spoken disclaimers must be clear and at least three seconds long, according to the ordinance.
While the City Council agreed that the legislation is a step in the right direction, some members stressed that there is more to be done.
“I still believe it is impossible to fundamentally reform campaign finance without some kind of public financing,” Councilmember Das Williams said. “When we want to get to is the most grassroots and egalitarian election possible, and taking away the influence of money is an important part of that.”