CCMIN 04202021 - Laserfiche WebLink

Councilmember Testa remarked that $24,000 is too high and believes $1 per voter is too high. She noted it was offensive to sign the pledge to spend under $55,000 because it was so high. She advised PACs and individual expenditures will always be a concern regardless of where the limit is set. She believes $24,000 has enough buffer and noted she would have been agreeable to 50 cents per voter without the inflation factor. She remarked that anyone who spent $38,000 on their campaign and then complained that she spent $7,600 was not necessary. She remarked the money could have been used for better causes in the community and noted she did not want to go any higher on the limits. Mayor Brown reported she has lost as a challenger. She advised it is difficult because Councilmembers get hundreds of emails weekly and try their best to respond. She reported she has worked tirelessly on behalf of the residents as a Councilmember and now Mayor. She noted her proven track record should mean something and it often means votes. Mayor Brown advised running for Mayor was more expensive than her City Council races. She advised the mayoral race was a highly contested situation with a lot on the table. She added it is more than one vote in five because she often has to speak on behalf of the City and regularly meets with a large number of organizations. She also noted it is harder and residents know it. Mayor Brown remarked she would like to see the expenditure limits reduced so no member of the City Council gets a reputation that they bought their seat. She advised she wants all five of them to be able to know they won the popular vote because they were the right candidate, voted in for their ideals and beliefs. She expressed hopes all future candidates would sign the pledge, so they do not have the reputation of having bought a City Council seat. Mayor Brown reported when she ran for Mayor in 2020, she stated she would not take PAC money, but she would talk to them. She expressed her hopes future candidates would run a clean campaign free of dark money. She encouraged residents to look at her Form 460 on the City's website because they will only see their neighbors and friends. Mayor Brown reported she is doing more outreach because she has to run every two years but noted she added she would be doing this outreach regardless. She acknowledged feeling like she has a target on her back because people would likely still support her opponent again in two years. She explained this is why she needs to be funded and ready to campaign because people know her seat is highly contested necessitating a harder campaign. She stated the Mayor's job is twice as hard as the one she held as a Councilmember. Councilmember Balch reiterated it was not his intention to diminish the Mayor's position and apologized if his comments came across as such. He clarified he is not talking about the stipend but rather running for the office with the same number of voters. He explained that setting the values too low provides campaign fodder if someone does not sign the campaign pledge because they can be accused of taking dark money and advised PAC money is not necessarily funneled to the candidate. He stated the Pleasanton Fire Department (PFD) and Chamber of Commerce do independent things outside of a candidate's control. He requested setting a limit making these things seem as minimally necessary as possible by tying the money to the candidates. He remarked that a challenger should be able to debate Pleasanton's political issues without the political fodder of whether they signed the pledge. He noted setting the limit too low only benefits the incumbent. Councilmember Narum agreed with Councilmember Testa's point about how nothing changes with PACs and independent expenditures. She echoed Councilmember Balch's point about how setting low limits subjects a candidate to criticism if not signing the pledge and creates the potential to force the money out to PACs and believes the City will lose transparency by this. She reported the PFD's PAC did give some of the candidate's money in 2020 and they should be honest about it. She noted she also did not mean to diminish the Mayor's office but was merely stating the expenses of running for either Mayor or City Council are the same, so she has an issue with the difference in limits. She restated her City Council Minutes Page 8 of 15 April 20, 2021