1 City Council Meeting: April 26, 2022 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER ________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTION 11.04.050 OF THE CITY ELECTIONS CODE TO ADJUST
LIMITS ON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO CITY CANDIDATES
WHEREAS, the City desires to adjust the limits on campaign contributions to City candidates to keep pace with the consumer price index (CPI).
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 11.04.050 is hereby amended to read as follows:
11.4.50 Limitations on contributions from persons.
(a) No person shall make to any candidate for office or to the controlled committee of such a candidate, a contribution or contributions totaling more than four hundred ten dollars for each election in which the candidate was on, is on, or is likely to be on the ballot or in which the candidate sought or seeks write-in votes. (b) No candidate for office or the controlled committee of such a candidate shall accept from any person a contribution or contributions totaling more than four hundred ten dollars for each election.
(c) The limitations imposed by this section shall be adjusted every five years, commencing on July 1, 2026, by an amount equal to the percentage change in the CPI-W Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area, as published by the 2 United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics rounded to the nearest five dollars.
(d) This section shall not be interpreted or applied to violate the right of association or the right to express views through expenditures. Rather, it is intended to be and shall be applied solely as a limit on campaign contributions to individuals and committees.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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SUSAN Y. COLA
Interim City Attorney