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The Mountain View City Council agreed on a 4-3 vote last week to cut down on the size of campaign contributions in future city elections. The move means no single contribution in City Council races can exceed $1,000.
The limits are part of a larger package of election rules that city officials say can improve transparency and better disclose to residents the source of campaign spending. The changes follow concerns from the recent 2020 election in which outside groups spent big on supporting or opposing candidates.
Council members who opposed the contribution limits, Ellen Kamei, Lisa Matichak and Pat Showalter, argued at the March 8 meeting that the current rules already work, and that Mountain View hasn’t had problems with massive election spending. Going back decades, council candidates have all accepted the city’s voluntary spending limit, which this year is set at $27,907.
Under a new state law, cities are required to adopt a campaign spending ordinance or be subject to AB 571. The law limits campaign contributions from a single donor to $4,900 per election, consistent with the cap on contributions for those running for state elective office.
Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, authored the bill and argued that cities and counties need to have at least some type of campaign spending ordinance on the books. About 78% of cities and 72% of counties in California do not have such ordinances, giving donors the ability to pump tens of thousands of dollars into local campaigns.
“In recent years, there have been examples of $50,000, $100,000, and even $244,000 contributions to candidates for local office from donors with business before that local government,” Mullin wrote as part of the bill’s analysis. “Such massive campaign contributions create a serious risk of actual or perceived corruption.”
Cities and counties without a campaign spending ordinance revert to AB 471, but cities still retain huge discretion. Agencies are empowered to draft an ordinance declaring no campaign spending limits at all, and that would still be acceptable and preempt the new state law.
Councilwoman Sally Lieber suggested that city elections have a $1,000 contribution limit for those who sign onto the voluntary spending limit, and those who do not would have a $500 contribution cap. The large majority of past contributions in Mountain View have been below $500, but with some notable exceptions. Showalter received $2,500 from the local firefighters’ union during the 2020 council race, along with six contributions from individuals ranging from $2,000 to $2,499.
In the 2018 City Council election, former Councilman John Inks received two contributions above $1,000 from apartment owners in the area.
Mayor Lucas Ramirez said the $1,000 contribution limit is more reasonable for a city the size of Mountain View, particularly when AB 471 sets a cap at $4,900. He said it also gives another big incentive for candidates to opt into the city’s voluntary spending limit.
Kamei, who opposed the idea, said she is comfortable with the state rules, and that residents in the city are more concerned with total spending on behalf of a candidate rather than limits on individual contributions.
“The city of Mountain View already has a voluntary expenditure limit, and to me, abiding by the voluntary expenditure limit kind of gets to I think what peoples’ concerns are, which is the amount of money that can go into a campaign,” Kamei said.
A new city rule, which the council also agreed to adopt in its 4-3 vote, will clamp down on campaign spending done by independent groups on behalf of candidates and measures — a consistent concern in past elections. Under the ordinance, any group that receives contributions or spends more than $500 will be subject to campaign disclosure requirements.
Because the state’s rules and the Fair Political Practices Commission set a higher threshold for independent committee contributions and spending, it will be up to the city to enforce these tighter rules.
Political action by independent groups in Mountain View range from small to massive. In the 2020 election, now-deceased resident Gary Wesley distributed political flyers geared toward renters — something that would likely not be subject to the city’s new rules because of the low-cost, volunteer nature of the election activity.
By contrast, the California Apartment Association in 2014 funneled $90,000 into a group called the “Neighborhood Empowerment Coalition,” which in turn spent big on mailers supporting candidates Kamei, Showalter and Ken Rosenberg. More recently, state officials investigated the Mountain View Fire Fighters Political Action Committee for possible campaign violations in supporting three candidates for elected office. The PAC had received thousands of dollars from the California Apartment Association.
City officials expect the ordinance to be drafted and in effect for this November’s election. AB 471 went into effect at the beginning of 2021, making it the default for campaign spending rules if a local ordinance is not in effect.
Even though my own largest contributions are within this limit, I think the real problem (as nationally) is the PACs and their very large ‘special interest’ SPECIFIC candidate support. Tens of thousands of DIRECT MAILINGS (glossy color mega ‘postcards’)
Some younger people can spend days & days manually distributing ‘broadsheets’ and doorhangers – sometimes ‘we seniors’ are more able to spends thousands of bucks (<$4900) to essentially do the same for a candidate.
Time to set up my own PAC? (it’s not really that hard).
Peace and Love to ALL (especially the YIMBYs)
First of all, people were very generous in donating to my City Council campaign. I will be forever grateful. They were not quite as generous as the above article states:
“Showalter received $2,500 from the local firefighters’ union during the 2020 council race, along with six contributions from individuals ranging from $2,000 to $2,499.”
Although I did receive $2,500 from the Mountain View Firefighters Local 1965, the next highest donations were for $1,000 from 6 very generous contributors. All together, my campaign received 163 donations. 116 of them were for $100 or less. But don’t take my word for it. You can check out all the candidate’s filings on campaign expenses at https://public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=mt