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election period. This amount is in-line with other Tri-Valley contribution limits. The City of Livermore's limit is $250, and the City of Dublin's limit is $300. In other nearby jurisdictions, the City of Fremont's limit is $500, Union City's limit is $600, but the Town of Danville has no contribution limit. At the October 16, 2007 meeting, the Council directed staff to provide information about contribution limits for candidates for State assembly, as this issue was suggested by one speaker. For that State office, the contribution limit is $3,300 per person. As the Council previously advised that it wants to maintain the $25 contribution reporting threshold, a $250 contribution limit (which is ten times the minimum reporting threshold) is reasonable to ensure that candidates can still communicate with the public, but not allow large contributions. A contribution limit will encourage candidates to meet a greater number of people to generate support. Council would need to make a policy decision as to the "election period" for which the contribution limit will be in effect. There are options for establishing the "election period" within which contributions may be made and cumulated, including the following: Option # 1. This option would allow contributions to be accepted during an approximately 23-month period, one month following the prior election, but only until seven (7) days prior to the election at issue. This seven day cut-off allows all contributions to be reported on the final pre-election campaign statement. Option # 2. This option would allow contributions to only be accepted in the 12 months prior to the election, including the date of the election. As now, contributions made just days before the election would not be reported in the campaign statement filed prior to the election, but would only be disclosed in apost-election statement. Option # 3. This option would allow contributions to be accepted during an approximately 24-month period, one month following the prior election, and 25 days following the election at issue. As now, contributions made just days before the election would not be reported in the campaign statement filed prior to the election (but would only be disclosed in apost-election statement). Contributions could be made following the election to retire campaign debt. These three options can be modified or combined after consideration of the various merits and drawbacks of each option. Because the November 2008 election is taking place within less than one year, if the Council considers adopting a contribution limit, direction would be needed as to whether it would apply to the 2008 election. Staff would recommend that for the 2008 election, the "election period" could be from the effective date of this ordinance until the Nov. 4, Page 5 of 6