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Joe Ely, a Pleasanton resident, believed any proposal to weaken the campaign disclosure requirements is an assault on the democratic process at the expense of the public's interest. He believed Council should require disclosure of campaign contributions in any amount as this will help dispel any perception that money is buying access or influence. He believed increasing the contribution threshold by any amount is moving in the wrong direction. The process by which public officials gain office should be open if not more open than the public business that they conduct after gaining office. This Council should be working towards more openness and not less. Mary Roberts, a Pleasanton resident, agreed with the disclosure of campaign contributions; however, she believed that the $25 or more contribution disclosure requirement is an unreasonable amount, as she does not like to badger people to provide the information that is required to be disclosed. She was not opposed to the number of disclosure statements which are currently to be filed four times per election, reflecting, respectively, contributions received 45, 17 and 7 days prior to an election and a final campaign statement which is due 30 days after an election. Frances Stone, a Pleasanton resident, provided written communication to Council in favor of retaining the existing City ordinance that finds it is in the public interest for voters to know who is contributing to campaigns for local office and local measures and that candidates and their committees must make a full and fair disclosure of the persons who are making such contributions in the amount of $25 or more. Mayor Hosterman closed the public comments. Mayor Hosterman believed the purpose of placing this matter on the agenda was to allow Council an opportunity to discuss whether or not it wanted to change the existing ordinance that requires campaign contributions of $25 or more to be disclosed. She asked staff if Council could discuss other items pertaining to campaign regulations and disclosure statements. Mr. Roush said the idea was to put the City's campaign regulations into play and any proposed amendments that would be allowable under campaign regulations, whether it is disclosure amounts, the amount of reporting times or contribution limits is open for discussion, Mr, Sullivan was concerned about the manner in which this agenda item was noticed. He asked if this matter would need to come back to Council to be voted on at a later date if Council chose to make any changes to the existing ordinance? From a legal point of view, Mr. Roush said that Council could introduce an ordinance tonight or amend the existing ordinance that could do any and all of the things that have been discussed. Mayor Hosterman said that public disclosure of campaign contributions is important and it should be an open process. The public has the right to know who in the community or outside of the community is contributing to their candidate's campaigns. _ _ She was not in favor of changing the existing $25 disclosure threshold. Pleasanton City Council 14 02/15/05 Minutes