Agenda packet, special meeting — San Mateo City Council, February 21, 2023

CITY OF SAN MATEO
City Council Special Meeting
February 21, 2023
5:30 PM
City Hall Council Chamber
Entrance is on O’Farrell Street

COUNCIL MEMBERS
Amourence Lee, Mayor
Lisa Diaz Nash, Deputy Mayor
Rich Hedges
Adam Loraine
Rob Newsom Jr.

AGENDA
THIS MEETING CAN BE ATTENDED IN PERSON OR REMOTE BY JOINING ZOOM – SEE CODES BELOW.

PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED BOTH IN PERSON AND REMOTEL Y.

SEE END OF AGENDA FOR OPTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING.

To join via Zoom – click here:

February 21, 2023
To join via telephone: (408) 638-0968
Webinar ID: 831 8333 5329 Passcode: 512916
Council Member Rich Hedges will teleconference into this meeting from:
2405 Kalanianaole Avenue – PH-11 Hilo, Hawaii 96720

CALL TO ORDER
Roll Call

CLOSED SESSION
The public will have an opportunity to comment before the consideration of these items. Following the meeting a report of action from Closed Session will be provided if required.

1. Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation, Worker’s Compensation (Paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Government Code Section 54956.9. Name of claimant: Brian Hedley.

STUDY SESSION
The public will have an opportunity to comment during the consideration of these items.

2. Campaign Contribution Limits Review
Review and provide direction to staff on whether the City's campaign contribution limits and campaign rules should be amended or repealed, or if no changes should be made; and receive a presentation on the City’s newly established Campaign Finance Dashboard.

CEQA: This review is not a project subject to CEQA, because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).)

ADJOURNMENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AGENDAS:

Agendas and material are posted on the City’s website on the Friday preceding each Council Meeting and can be viewed on the City's website at
www.cityofsanmateo.org
. Any supplemental material distributed to the Council after the posting of the agenda will be made part of the official record.

WATCHING A MEETING ON TV:

City Council meetings are broadcast live on Comcast/channel 27, Wave/channel 26, or AT&T/channel 99.

1 of 32

For transmission problems during the broadcast, please call (650) 522-7099. For all other broadcast comments, call (650) 522-7040, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

WATCHING A MEETING ON A COMPUTER:

There are three ways to stream.
1) Public Meeting Portal
www.cityofsanmateo.org/publicmeetings
2) City YouTube channel and stream it on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/CityofSanMateo
3) Watch TV live stream:
https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/193/Channel-San-Mateo-Live-Stream

PUBLIC COMMENTS/REQUEST TO SPEAK
Prior to the Meeting
Send comments to:
[email protected]
until 4 p.m. the day of the meeting.

During the meeting
By Zoom:

Click the link at the top of the agenda and you’ll be added to the meeting. All attendees are muted by default. When the item of interest is open for consideration, select the “Raise Your Hand” icon and you will be called on at the appropriate time.

By telephone:

Call (408) 638-0968 and enter the conference ID found at the top of the meeting agenda. When the item of interest is open for consideration, select *9 to raise your hand. When called upon, press *6 to unmute, state your name and provide your comments.

In Person:

At the meeting complete a “Request to Speak” form, submit a request at the speaker kiosk or scan the QR code.

ACCESSIBILITY:

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, those with disabilities requiring special accommodations to participate in this meeting may contact the City Clerk’s Office at (650) 522-7040 or [email protected]
. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will
enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.

2 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4

CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 2 Section Name: STUDY SESSION Account Number: 10-1511 File ID: 23-7182 TO: City Council
FROM: Drew Corbett, City Manager
PREPARED BY: City Clerk's Office
MEETING DATE: February 21, 2023
SUBJECT:

Campaign Contribution Limits Review
RECOMMENDATION:

Review and provide direction to staff on whether the City's campaign contribution limits and campaign rules should be amended or repealed, or if no changes should be made; and receive a presentation on the City’s newly established Campaign Finance Dashboard.

BACKGROUND:

In 2004, the City Council added Chapter 2.80 to the San Mateo Municipal Code entitled “Contributions and Loans to City Candidate Campaigns.” This chapter (Attachment 1) established limits on the amount of the contributions that may be made to City Council candidate campaigns to $250 by an individual and $500 by an organization, as well as limiting the amount a candidate can loan to their own campaign to $15,000. In 2017, the City Council amended the limits by increasing the amount an individual can give to $500 and an organization to $1,000. In 2012, section 2.80.070 was amended to read:
“Penalties. Any person who violates the provisions of this Chapter is guilty of a public offense.” Section 2.80.080 requires that the City Council conduct a post-election review of the requirements of this chapter no later than three (3) months following the certification of the results of the election for the purpose of allowing the City Council to consider the ongoing appropriateness of the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to the amount of the contribution loan limits established in Sections 2.80.030 and 2.80.040. The City Council certified the results of the November 8, 2022 election with Resolution 142 (2022) on December 12, 2022. See Table 1 below for a comparison of campaign funding between 2017 and 2022 below:
2017 2020 2022
Number of Candidates in Contest 7 3 7
Contributions - Total Raised * $191,910 $263,562 $199,036 Contributions - Largest Amount ** $56,332 $118,759 $76,282 Contributions - Smallest Amount ** $0 $69,876 $1,849
Loan - Largest Amount ** $6,500 $0 $1,500
Independent Expenditures – Total * $79,710 $74,036 $35,915 Independent Expenditures - Largest Amount ** $70,468 $30,570 $11,233 Independent Expenditures - Smallest Amount ** $9,242 $14,767 $4,154 In-Kind Donations – Total * $3,185 $13,951 $1,207
In-Kind Donations - Largest Amount** $1,485 $6,890 $927 In-Kind Donation - Smallest Amount** $500 $400 $140
* Total of all candidates. ** By a single candidate.

3 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4
2017 2020 2022
Average Raised per candidate $27,416 $87,854 $28,434
Average Independent Expenditure per candidate $11,387 $24,679 $5,131 Average In-Kind per candidate $455 $4,650 $172
Details of the individual campaign reporting can be found on the City’s website at:
https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/2830/Candidate-Campaign-Statements Campaign Dashboard
On March 1st, 2021, City Council reviewed the provisions of Municipal Code 2.80 “Contributions and Loans to City Candidate Campaigns”. During this study session, with the broader intention to increase public transparency into candidate campaign finances, direction was given to staff to develop a candidate finance dashboard. The campaign dashboard can be found on the City’s website at:
https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4664/Council-Campaign-Financing-Dashboard The City Clerk’s Office led an interdepartmental scoping exercise and created the Campaign Finance Dashboard with a focus on the November 8, 2022 General Election. To date, the City’s Campaign Finance Dashboard is the only campaign disclosure dashboard available within the County of San Mateo. The City’s campaign dashboard provides voters with interactive visualizations of campaign finance activity.

This includes, as illustrated in the chart below, an overview of financial activity, detailing the dollar amounts being received and being spent by candidates. Users are provided with user-friendly breakdowns of the type of transactions, including contributions, loans, debts, liabilities, and expenses.

4 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4
As shown in the chart below, another feature offered by the campaign dashboard is the ability for users to easily review the proportion of contributions by the type of contributor a candidate may receive contributions from. The type of contributors to a candidate for office includes by individuals, committees, self-contributions, businesses, and others.

The campaign dashboard also provides users with the ability to see the proportion of contributions provided to candidates by range of dollar amount, including small (under $100), medium ($100 to $499), and large ($500) contributors.

5 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4
A common inquiry regarding campaign contributions has been where is the money received coming from. The campaign dashboard provides users with both bar chart and mapping visualizations of the contributions by contributor location. The locations include from within the City of San Mateo; the County of San Mateo but outside City limits; California but outside San Mateo County limits; outside California; or location unknown.

6 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4
Due to time-constraints, the initial launch of the campaign dashboard contained only the data provided by candidates when filing their semi-annual and pre-election statements. After the launch of campaign dashboard, staff received inquiries from members of the public to consider adding independent expenditures within the dashboard. During its most recent update to the campaign dashboard, staff was able to add further visualizations to represent the proportion of independent expenditures reported during the November 8, 2022 election. During the February 21, 2023 City Council study session, staff will present the updated campaign dashboard, including a visualization of independent expenditures in support of candidates for office.

While prior to the release of the City’s campaign dashboard, this information was made publicly available, the value added from the campaign dashboard is an all-inclusive summary of campaign finance activities. This saves the user from individually pouring over pages of complex filings and manually comparing filings against multiple candidates. Staff’s objective is to automate the campaign dashboard through an Application Programming Interface (API) in partnership with NetFile.

Senate Bill 1439 (SB 1439):

In September 2022, the State legislature adopted Senate Bill 1439 (SB 1439), which the Governor signed, in an effort strengthen regulations concerning campaign contributions. Effective January 1, 2023, SB 1439 expanded campaign contribution-related restrictions on local officials, particularly with respect to local elected officials such as members of city councils and boards of supervisors. State law now provides that campaign contributions of more than $250 would be a conflict of interest for local officials and would require recusal in certain situations, such as where the donor was an applicant for a license or permit. Furthermore, the previous three-month restriction on campaign contributions following a decision was extended to a twelve-month restriction, for both appointed and elected officials. Finally, if local official does not willfully and knowingly accept, solicit, or direct a prohibited contribution, the violation can be resolved by returning the contribution.

Options for Council Consideration:

1. Repeal the Existing City Campaign Contributions Limits Assembly Bill 571, effective January 1, 2021, applied a default campaign contribution limit to city and county candidates when the city or county has not already enacted a contribution limit. The 2023-24 contribution limits for city and county candidates in cities and counties that have not enacted limits is $5,500 for individuals, business entities, and committees.

Recognizing that State law limits campaign contributions in municipal elections, the Council could choose to repeal the current code provisions in their entirety. One advantage of this approach is that there would be one consistent system of campaign finance rules applicable to State and local elections. The one set of definitions of the key terms of the law applicable throughout the state, which might help avoid confusion and make it easier for campaign candidates and treasurers to comply. The other advantage with this option is that enforcement would be performed by the FPPC freeing up city attorney resources.

On the other hand, the limits are significantly higher under the State law and concerns might be raised about the perception that wealthier donors might garner greater influence through large donations to council candidates.

2. Adjust the Amount of the Contribution Limits
The current code limits contributions by individuals to $500 and contributions made by organizations to $1,000. These limits were last adjusted in 2017. The Council may choose to leave the limits as they are or direct that the limits be adjusted. The City of Berkeley’s limitation on contributions includes an adjustment on dollar amount for cost-of-living changes in January of every odd-numbered year (City of Berkeley Municipal Code 2.12.415).

7 of 32

CITY OF SAN MATEO
3 9
3 4

3. Research Alternative Campaign Finance Models Adopted by Other Agencies Towards the goal of protecting public confidence in the political process, Council may direct staff to research recent initiatives taken in other jurisdictions within the area of campaign contributions and offer Council the opportunity to consider their application to San Mateo. Such initiatives may include, but may not be limited to, Public Financing for Berkeley Candidates, whereby candidates may receive a 6-to-1 match on donations to campaigns, up to $60. Voters in the City of Oakland similarly voted to introduce Public Financing of City and School Board Officials.

BUDGET IMPACT:

There is no budget impact associated with this post-election campaign review.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:

This review is not a project subject to CEQA, because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).)

NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.

ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – Municipal Code 2.80

STAFF CONTACT
Martin McTaggart, Deputy City Clerk
[email protected]
(650) 522-7044

8 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 1/6
City of San Mateo Law Library / City of San Mateo Municipal Code. / Title 2 ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL / Chapter 2.80 CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS TO CITY CANDIDATE

CAMPAIGNS
Chapter 2.80 CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS TO

CITY CANDIDATE CAMPAIGNS

2.80.010 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) The City Council hereby finds that preserving integrity and openness in the political process is a matter of the highest public interest; that the people of the City of San Mateo can be better served through a more informed electorate; that the trust of the people is essential to representative government; and that regulation of certain campaign contributions and loans is necessary to promote public confidence in government and to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
(b) The City Council further finds that regulation of campaign contributions is required because the costs of running political campaigns have reached levels that lead to a public perception that special interests and wealthy individuals may have undue influence on or access to elected officials.
(c) It is the policy of the City to promote and encourage broad-based citizen involvement in the financing of election campaigns.
(d) The City Council further finds that allowing candidates to lend unlimited amounts of their personal funds to their campaigns tends to undermine public confidence in the election process, because the public may perceive that candidates with large outstanding loans will seek contributors to repay their loan after the election, and may be predisposed to favor their post- election contributors.

9 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 2/6
(e) Protecting public confidence in the political process requires adequate enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.020 Deﬁnitions.

As used in this chapter, the words and phrases shall be defined in the same manner as they are defined in the Political Reform Act of 1974 (including any amendments thereto) as found in California Government Code Section 81000 et seq., unless defined otherwise in this section. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms below are defined as follows:
(a) "Candidate" means any individual listed on the ballot for election to any City office, or who otherwise has taken affirmative action to seek election to City office, or who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure, or who gives his or her consent for any other person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure with the purpose of bringing about his or her election to any City office. "Candidate" also means an officeholder in connection with a recall election relating to such officeholder.
(b) "Candidate committee" means a committee that is controlled directly or indirectly by a candidate or that acts jointly with a candidate in connection with the making of expenditures. (c) "Contribution" means a payment, a forgiveness of a loan, a payment of a loan by a third party, or an enforceable promise to make a payment except to the extent full and adequate consideration is received unless it is clear from the surrounding circumstances that it is not made for political purposes. Except as provided herein, "contribution" includes (1) an expenditure made at the behest of a candidate or candidate committee unless full and adequate consideration is received for making the expenditure, and (2) any goods or services received by or behested by a candidate or candidate committee at no charge or at a discount from the fair market value, unless the discount is given in the regular course of business to members of the public.

The term "contribution" does not include a payment made by the occupant of a home or business for costs related to any meeting or fund raising event held in the occupant's home or business; or volunteer personal or professional services if the services are donated without any understanding or agreement that they shall be directly or indirectly repaid to him or her.

10 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 3/6
(d) "Individual" means a natural person and shall not include a partnership, corporation, association, firm, business entity, committee, club, or other organization. (e) "Organization" means a partnership, corporation, association, firm, business entity, committee, club, union, or company.
(Ord. No. 2021-23 § 1; Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.030 LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS.
(a) For any particular election, including a recall election, no individual shall make, and no candidate, candidate committee treasurer or other person acting on behalf of a candidate committee shall solicit or accept from any individual any contribution which will cause the total amount contributed by such individual to exceed $500.00. (b) For any particular election, including a recall election, no organization shall make, and no candidate, candidate committee treasurer or other person acting on behalf of a candidate committee shall solicit or accept from any organization any contribution which will cause the total amount contributed by such organization to exceed $1,000.00. (c) Any contribution or portion thereof that exceeds the limits in this section shall be returned to the contributor within 72 hours of receipt.
(d) The limitations imposed by this section shall not apply to contribution of a candidate's personal funds to the candidate's own campaign, or to any loan which is personally guaranteed by the candidate or is secured by property owned by the candidate. (Ord. No. 2017-2 § 1; Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)
Cross References
Section 2.80.080(a)

11 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 4/6

2.80.040 CANDIDATE LOANS.

No candidate shall personally loan their campaign an amount the outstanding balance of which exceeds $15,000.00 at any given point in time.
(Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)
Cross References
Section 2.80.080(a)

2.80.045 Aggregation of Contributions.
(a) To determine when contributions are aggregated under this chapter, "majority owned" means ownership of more than 50 percent.
(b) If an individual directs or controls an organization's contributions, the organization's contributions shall be aggregated with contributions made by both of the following:
(1) That individual.
(2) Any other organization whose contributions that individual directs or controls. (c) If two or more organizations make contributions that are directed or controlled by a majority of the same persons, the contributions of those entities shall be aggregated. (d) Contributions made by organizations that are majority owned by a person shall be aggregated with the contributions of the majority owner and all other organizations majority owned by that person, unless those organizations act independently in their contribution-making decisions.
(Ord. No. 2021-23 § 2.)

12 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 5/6

2.80.050 Candidate Campaigns Only.

The provisions of this chapter apply to election campaigns for candidates only. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to any ballot measure, referendum or initiative election. (Ord. No. 2021-23 § 3; Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.060 INJUNCTION, OTHER COURT ACTION.

In addition to all other remedies and penalties provided for violation of this chapter, the City Attorney may bring suit in a court of competent jurisdiction to seek an injunction or other appropriate relief, to halt any violation of this chapter. Such action may include seeking a temporary restraining order or temporary injunction and other appropriate temporary relief. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to restrict a suit for damages on behalf of the City or on behalf of any other person or entity.
(Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.070 PENALTIES.

Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a public offense. (Ord. No. 2012-2 § 5; Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.080 Post Election Review.
(a) No later than three (3) months after the certification of the results of a City election at which a City Council member is elected, the City Clerk shall calendar for City Council consideration a review of the provisions of this chapter. The purpose of such review is to allow the City Council to consider the ongoing appropriateness of the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the amount of the contribution and loan limits established in Sections 2.80.030 and 2.80.040.

13 of 32

2/7/23, 2:28 PM City of San Mateo Law Library
about:blank 6/6
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the City Clerk's failure to calendar this review within the time period specified shall not subject the City Clerk to any criminal or civil penalty.
(Ord. No. 2021-23 § 4; Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

2.80.090 SEVERABILITY.

Each section and provision of this chapter shall be considered severable and the invalidity of any section or provision of this chapter shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section or provision.
(Ord. No. 2005-1 § 1.)

14 of 32

February 21, 2023
Campaign Contribution
Limits Review

15 of 32

Background
Campaign Activity
Background
• 2004: the City Council added Chapter 2.80 to the San Mateo Municipal Code entitled “Contributions and Loans to City Candidate Campaigns.” • Limited the amount of the contributions that may be made to City Council candidate campaigns to $250 by an individual and $500 by an organization, as well as limiting the amount a candidate can loan to their own campaign to $15,000.
• 2017, the City Council amended the limits by increasing the amount an individual can give to $500 and an organization to $1,000.

Dashboard
SB 1439
Options to
Consider
Staff
Recommendation

16 of 32

Background
Campaign Activity
Background
• City Council must conduct a post-election review of the requirements of this chapter no later than three (3) months following the certification of the results of the election.
• For the purpose of allowing the City Council to consider the ongoing appropriateness of the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to the amount of the contribution loan limits established in Sections 2.80.030 and 2.80.040.
• The City Council certified the results of the November 8, 2022 election with Resolution 142 (2022) on December 12, 2022.

Dashboard
SB 1439
Options to
Consider
Staff
Recommendation

17 of 32

Background
Campaign Activity
Campaign Finance Activity
Dashboard
SB 1439
Options to
Consider
Staff
Recommendation
2017 2020 2022
Number of Candidates in Contest 7 3 7
Contributions - Total Raised * $191,910 $263,562 $199,036 Contributions - Largest Amount ** $56,332 $118,759 $76,282 Contributions - Smallest Amount ** $0 $69,876 $1,849
Loan - Largest Amount ** $6,500 $0 $1,500
Independent Expenditures – Total * $79,710 $74,036 $35,915 Independent Expenditures - Largest Amount ** $70,468 $30,570 $11,233 Independent Expenditures - Smallest Amount ** $9,242 $14,767 $4,154 In-Kind Donations – Total * $3,185 $13,951 $1,207
In-Kind Donations - Largest Amount** $1,485 $6,890 $927 In-Kind Donation - Smallest Amount** $500 $400 $140
* Total of all candidates.
** By a single candidate.

18 of 32

Background
Campaign Activity
Campaign Activity
Dashboard
SB 1439
Options to
Consider
Staff
Recommendation
2017 2020 2022
Average Raised per candidate $27,416 $87,854 $28,434
Average Independent Expenditure per candidate $11,387 $24,679 $5,131 Average In-Kind per candidate $455 $4,650 $172

19 of 32

Background
Campaign Activity
Campaign Finance Dashboard
Dashboard
SB 1439
Options to
Consider
Staff
Recommendation
• March 1st, 2021 post-election review – staff directed to develop campaign finance dashboard.
• Campaign Finance Dashboard launched the November 8, 2022, General Election.
• The City’s Campaign Finance Dashboard is the only campaign disclosure dashboard available within the County of San Mateo. • Staff received assistance from the San Francisco Ethics Commission, the Oakland Ethics Commission, NetFile, MapLight and others • Dashboard provides a service to voters to increase transparency for campaign finance.
• Objective to automate dashboard using NetFile API to include all data sources as they become available.

20 of 32