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Councilmember Sullivan thought information should be available to the public quicker, better <br />and easier than it is now and was supportive of keeping the $25 limit. Regarding the State <br />Assembly limits, he asked that staff look into it and return with more information. <br />Regarding public funding for local elections, Councilmember Sullivan questioned if anyone was <br />doing public funding for local elections in California. Ms. Seto said this was correct; no cities or <br />counties were doing it and there are actually specific statutes that provide that public funds <br />cannot be used. Only charter cities have been considering it, and a bill has been provided in the <br />Assembly to modify that which currently prohibits it. So, depending upon what happens with that <br />legislation, the Council could discuss this in the future. <br />Mayor Hosterman recapped that there is a common theme of increasing transparency such as <br />placing Form 460's on a website or something else, which she felt would be beneficial <br />especially for those in the community who have an interest in watching and following individual <br />campaigns and candidates but do not have time to devote looking into it. Regarding limiting <br />contributions, the Council has heard from several people that the council may well be pushing <br />this off in another direction and she thinks it is a good idea to limit contributions at some point, <br />but was not sure at what point that would be. She asked staff to look at State Assembly <br />guidelines to understand what those look like regarding campaign expenditures and <br />contributions. Regarding the idea of limiting and trying to provide this framework for campaign <br />contributions to safeguard transparency with the public and giving candidates tools to get their <br />name out, she feels we are moving toward providing more opportunities for the wealthy and <br />shutting out opportunities for those with less means. <br />Councilmember Sullivan asked about voluntary limits. Mayor Hosterman said she liked the $25 <br />limit, which means anyone who makes a contribution of $25 or more must be disclosed on the <br />Form 460. <br />Councilmember McGovern noted that staff is working on a Code of Ethics and felt it went hand <br />in hand with campaign reform as far as how the Council conducts itself. She asked if this would <br />be coming forward, and City Manager Fialho said this could come forward in the next 60 days. <br />Councilmember Sullivan said with the pledge idea, perhaps one of the statements in the pledge <br />is that it discourages independent expenditures made on a councilmember's behalf. He felt this <br />was not binding, but a description of discouragement. <br />City Manager Fialho said five ideas or concepts presented included; 1) limits on contributions; 2) <br />modifying the filing periods for disclosure; 3) the idea of a voluntary expenditure limit; 4) whether <br />or not the City should modify the reporting threshold from $25 to another number; and 5) the <br />idea of better disclosure and transparency. <br />Councilmember McGovern asked staff to bring back information from other cities on what their <br />campaign contribution limits were, liked the idea of returning with Option One. <br />Councilmember Cook-Kallio said she had a copy of the Alameda County contribution limit by <br />city and this could be copied for the Council. <br />Councilmember Sullivan said he would like to look at caps on contributions from individuals, <br />PACs, and other committees. Councilmember Cook-Kallio said she was in favor of looking at a <br />City Council Minutes 11 October 16, 2007 <br />