It is essential in a
democratic system that the public has confidence in the integrity,
independence, and impartiality of those who are elected to act on their behalf
in government. There is a public perception that a relationship exists between
substantial contributions and access to elected officials. To diminish the
perceived or actual connection between contributions and influence, the City
adopts this Campaign Finance Code to promote public confidence and, it is
hoped, a greater degree of citizen participation in the electoral process.
Sec. 2-301 Definitions
(a) Election
Cycle: The following constitute
separate election cycles:
1) for all candidates and officeholders, beginning
July 1 of the calendar year before the date of the regular municipal election,
and ending on the date of the regular municipal election;
2) for a candidate in a run-off election after the
regular municipal election, beginning the day after the regular municipal
election, and ending on the date of the run-off election;
3) for all candidates and officeholders, beginning
either on the day after the regular municipal election or the day after the run-off
election, as applicable, until June 30 of the calendar year before the next
regular municipal election.
(b) Under
Texas Election Code, Section 251.001, a “contribution” means a direct or
indirect transfer of money, goods, or services, or any other thing of value and
includes an agreement made or other obligation incurred, whether legally
enforceable or not, to make a transfer.
The term includes a loan or extension of credit, other than those
expressly excluded by this subdivision, and a guarantee of a loan or extension
of credit, including a loan described by this subdivision.
The term
“contribution” does not include a loan made in the due course of business by a
corporation that is legally engaged in the business of lending money and that
has conducted the business continuously for more than one year before the loan
is made.
(c) A loan is
deemed to be made in the ordinary due course of business if it:
(1)
bears the usual and customary interest rate of the lending institution for the
category of loan involved;
(2) is made on a basis that assures
repayment;
(3) is evidenced by a written
instrument; and
(4) is subject to a due date or
amortization schedule.
(d)
Terms not defined in this chapter but defined in the Texas Election Code shall
have the meanings assigned to them in the Texas Election Code.
DIVISION 2.
CONTRIBUTION LIMITS
Sec. 2-302 Limitation
Of Political Contributions To Candidates or Officeholders For Mayor Or Council
(a) A candidate
for district office on the City Council or city council officeholder may not
accept more than $500.00 in political contributions from any individual or
single entity per election cycle.
(b) A candidate
for mayor or mayoral officeholder may not accept more than $1000.00 in
political contributions from any individual or single entity per election
cycle.
(c) Except as provided in Section 2-304 of
this chapter, the limits set out in subsection (a) and (b) of this section
apply to contributions made in the form of loans, extensions of credit, and
guarantees of loans or extensions of credit as described in Section 2-301(b).
Repayment of loans does reset the contribution limit.
(d) Political action
committees, commercial entities, or campaign vendors cannot provide in-kind
contributions with a commercial value to candidates or officeholders beyond the
limits established in this section. Individuals may donate their time as
campaign volunteers without limit.
“In-kind” contribution means goods or services provided to or by a
person at no charge or for less than their fair market value.
(e) An individual cannot
contribute to candidate or candidate committee and a candidate for Mayor or
City Council or officeholder cannot accept campaign contributions or
officeholder contributions in cash exceeding $50, from a single donor during a
reporting period as defined in the Texas Election Code §253.033, including
tickets to fund-raising events.
(f) A person may not
knowingly make or authorize a political contribution in the name of or on
behalf of another, unless the person discloses in writing to the recipient the
name and address of the person actually making the contribution in order for
the recipient to make the proper disclosure.
(g) A minor may make a
contribution only if done so knowingly and voluntarily with funds, goods or
services owned or controlled exclusively by the minor and not with proceeds of
a gift where the purpose was to provide funds to be contributed. The minor shall submit a form with the
contribution acknowledging his or her minor status and that his or her
contribution complies with this provision.
(h) A “coordinated
campaign expenditure” shall be considered a contribution subject to the limits
set forth within this section and subject to the disclosure requirements for
campaign contributions made to a candidate for elected city office. As used in this subsection, the term
“coordinated campaign expenditure” means a payment, other than a direct
contribution, for an activity, service or product that contains express advocacy
for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate(s) for city office
and is made in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with or at the request or
suggestion of, a candidate(s) for city office or a candidate’s representative,
agent or employee.
Coordinated
campaign expenditures shall include, but not be limited to the following:
1)
Voter identification
and/or get-out-the-vote activity on behalf of a specific candidate(s) for city
office;
2)
A public communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate(s) for
city office and that promotes or supports a candidate(s) for that office, or
attacks or opposes a candidate(s) for that office, or is suggestive of no
plausible meaning other than an exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate(s).
The
following is not considered a coordinated campaign expenditure:
1) Direct monetary contributions made to a candidate
for city office;
2) In-kind contributions made to a candidate for city
office;
3)
Payment by an individual or organization for the individual’s or organization’s
overhead expenses including but not limited to rent, utilities, taxes, office
supplies or salaries;
4)
Volunteer (unpaid) activity(ies) on the part of the individual or members of
the organization.
Sec. 2-303 Time Limitation To Accept Donations
(a) A candidate for Mayor
or City Council shall not accept nor deposit campaign contributions after 5:00
P.M. on the 4th calendar day before the regular municipal election
date.
(b) During a run-off
election, a candidate for Mayor or City Council shall not accept nor deposit
campaign contributions after 5:00 P.M. on the 4th calendar day
before the date of the run-off election.
(c) Contributions received
after the deadlines set out in (a) and (b) of this section or contributions not
deposited by these deadlines may be deposited during the subsequent election
cycle. Such contributions will be
subject to limitations for the election cycle during which they are deposited.
Sec. 2-304 Limits on Repayment of Loans or Reimbursements from Political Contributions
(a) Loan Limit for Candidates for City Council.
A candidate for City Council may not use political
contributions in an aggregate amount of more than $25,000 during an election
cycle to:
1) repay a loan to his or her campaign account that the candidate has made
from his or her personal assets; or
2) reimburse campaign expenditures made from personal funds; or
3) repay a loan to the candidate or to any authorized committee of the
candidate from any other person, persons, entity or entities.
The limit established by this section applies to the
cumulative total from one or all combined loans.
(b) Loan Limit for Candidates for Mayor.
A candidate for Mayor may not use political
contributions in an aggregate amount of more than $50,000 during an election
cycle to:
1) repay a loan to his or her campaign account that the candidate has made
from his or her personal assets; or
2) reimburse campaign expenditures made from personal funds; or
3) repay a loan to the candidate or to any authorized committee of the
candidate from any other person, persons, entity or entities.
The limit established by this section applies to the
cumulative total from one or all combined loans.
(c) A candidate cannot
accept a loan made in cash.
DIVISION 3. POLITICAL
CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTS AND REPORTS
Sec. 2-305 Single Account
(a) A candidate for Mayor
or City Council or officeholder must deposit each and every political
contribution into one and only one specified bank account. This single account
must be used for all political contributions and expenditures pertaining to
municipal office.
(b) Persons with
established campaign accounts before the date this code goes into effect can
transfer funds into the new single campaign account.
(c) At the time a
candidate files the Appointment of Campaign Treasurer pursuant to Texas
Election Code Section 252.001, the candidate shall declare the municipal office sought. If candidate subsequently decides to seek a
different office, the candidate shall file an amended Appointment of Campaign
Treasurer declaring the new office sought.
(d) If a candidate who has
filed a campaign treasurer appointment decides to seek a different office that
would require the appointment to be filed with another authority, a copy of the
appointment certified by the authority with whom it was originally filed must
be filed with the other authority in addition to the new campaign treasurer
appointment, in accordance with the requirements of Texas Election Code Section
252.010.
(e)
If, after declaring a candidacy for any elected office, the candidate
subsequently declares his or her candidacy for any elected municipal office, he
or she may maintain the same campaign finance account. However, if the candidate seeks a municipal
office which is subject to lower campaign contribution limits than the
previously sought office, the candidate shall return all contributions in
excess of the limits for the municipal office sought.
(1)
The transferor committee’s available funds shall be viewed as those
contributions most recently received that add up to the amount of cash on hand.
(2)
Contributions transferred must be aggregated with any contributions made by the
same donor to the committee receiving the transfer. Amounts that would cause a contributor to exceed his or her
per-election cycle contribution limit must be excluded from the transfer.
Sec. 2-306 Campaign Account Statements
(a) A candidate for Mayor
or City Council or the campaign treasurer must send a campaign account
statement directly to the designated campaign finance enforcement authority
once a month within five business days of receiving the statement from the
financial institution. The candidate
may choose to direct the financial institution to send a copy of the statement
directly to the campaign finance enforcement authority.
The City Clerk’s Office
shall serve as the official records repository for the municipal campaign
finance authority.
Sec. 2-307 Electronic Filing
(a) Candidates for Mayor or City Council and
officeholders will electronically file and update contribution and expenditure
reports required under the Texas Elections Code with the City Clerk’s
Office.
(b) In general and runoff
elections, candidates for mayor or city council shall also electronically file
an additional 3-day campaign finance contributions report. This report is to be
filed no later than 5:00 P.M. on the third calendar day preceding the general
or run-off election day. This report is in addition to the reports required by
the Texas Election Code.
(c) The City will provide
access to computer equipment for candidates to file the electronic
reports. A
candidate, officeholder, or political committee that is required to file
electronic reports under this chapter may apply for an exemption if
(1) the candidate, officeholder, or campaign treasurer of
the committee files with the commission an affidavit stating that the
candidate, officeholder, or committee, an agent of the candidate, officeholder,
or committee, or a person with whom the candidate, officeholder, or committee
contracts does not use computer equipment to keep the current records of
political contributions, political expenditures, or persons making political
contributions to the candidate, officeholder, or committee; and
(2) the candidate, officeholder, or committee does not, in a
calendar year, accept political contributions that in the aggregate exceed
$20,000 or make political expenditures that in the aggregate exceed $20,000.
(d) The City of San
Antonio will post the contribution and expenditure reports through a designated
Elections Website.
(e) Knowingly failing to timely file a report required by this section is a violation
hereof, as is the knowingly filing of a report with incorrect, misleading, or
incomplete information. If an individual inadvertently files an incorrect or
incomplete report, it is his or her responsibility to file an amended report as
soon as possible, though no later than fifteen (15) days after discovery of the
error or after the error should have reasonably been discovered.
Division 4. POLITICAL
ACTION COMMITTEES
Sec. 2-308 Political Action Committees
All political action
committees (PACs) or groups spending money on municipal campaign activity or
advertising associated with a city candidate or measure election, or specially
designated City Council agenda item shall also, in addition to compliance with
reporting requirements under the Texas Election Code, submit such reports
electronically with the municipal campaign finance authority. Deadlines and contents of reports for
political action committees shall be set in accordance with the Texas Election
Code.
Division 5. CITY CONTRACTORS
Sec. 2-309 Contribution
Prohibitions
(a) Any person acting as a
legal signatory for a proposed contractual relationship that applies for a
“high-risk” discretionary contract, as defined by the City of San Antonio
Contracting Policy and Process Manual, may not make a political contribution to
any councilmember or candidate from the time the person submits the response to
the Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Qualifications (RFQ) until 30
calendar days following the contract award. Any legal
signatory for a proposed high-risk contract must be identified within the
response to the RFP’s or RFQ’s, if the identity of the signatory will be
different from the individual submitting the response.
(b) If the legal signatory
entering the contract has made such a contribution, the city may not award the
contract to that person, or to the business entity for whom that contributor
acted as legal signatory. Any contract awarded in violation of this provision
shall be voidable at the discretion of the City Council.
(c) In the event that a
candidate or officeholder unknowingly accepts a contribution in contravention
of the provisions of this section, then it shall be the duty of the candidate
or officeholder to return the contribution within 5 business days after he or
she becomes aware of the violation.
(d) The criteria for
designation as a “high-risk” contract
are:
(1) Value of the contract over the life of the
contract will exceed $1 million;
(2)
Contracts with value exceeding $25,000 to be obtained without competitive
solicitation;
(3)
Contract is for goods or services of a highly complex nature or for
non-standard items; or
(4) Contracts with exceptional community
interest.
DIVISION 6. ENFORCEMENT
AUTHORITY AND SANCTIONS
Sec. 2-310 Ethics Review Board
(a) Municipal Campaign Finance Regulations
Enforcement Authority. The Ethics Review Board created pursuant to Article XIII
of the City Charter shall have authority to review reports required under this
chapter and shall have the jurisdiction to investigate, make findings, issue
rulings and assess sanctions concerning any alleged violation of this chapter,
by any person subject to these provisions.
(b) Municipal Campaign Finance Advisory
Opinions Issued by the Ethics Review Board.
(1)
By writing filed with the City Clerk, any
officeholder or candidate for city council, mayor or officer of a political
action committee registered with the Office of the City Clerk may request an
advisory opinion with respect to the interpretation of the code of municipal
campaign finance regulations, but only with respect to whether proposed action
by that person would violate these regulations. The City Clerk shall promptly
transmit all requests for advisory opinions to the Ethics Compliance Officer
and the chair of the Ethics Review Board.
(2)
Within twenty (20) days of receipt by the chair
of the Ethics Review Board of a request for an advisory opinion, the Board,
acting en banc or through a
designated Ethics Panel, shall issue a written advisory opinion. During the
preparation of the opinion, the Board may consult with the Ethics Compliance
Officer of the city and other appropriate persons. An advisory opinion shall
not reveal the name of the person who made the request, if that person
requested anonymity, in which case the opinion shall be written in the form of
a response to an anonymous, hypothetical fact situation.
A copy of the opinion shall
be indexed and kept by the Ethics Review Board as part of its records. In addition, copies of the opinion shall be
forwarded by the chair of the Ethics Review Board, or the Ethics Compliance Officer,
to the person who requested the opinion, to the members of the Ethics Review
Board, and to the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall make the opinion available
as a public record in accordance with the Local Government Records Act. The Ethics Compliance Officer shall promptly
post the opinion on the Internet via the City of San Antonio homepage.
(c) Civil Sanctions for Violations of the
Municipal Campaign Finance Regulations. The following civil sanctions may be
imposed by the Ethics Review Board which finds by a preponderance of the
evidence that the municipal campaign finance regulations have been violated:
(1)
Letter of
Notification. The Ethics Review Board
may issue a letter of notification to any individual subject to the municipal
campaign finance regulations where the board finds that the violation was
clearly unintentional or inadvertent.
The letter must advise the person to whom it is directed of any steps to
be taken to avoid future violations;
(2)
Letter of
Admonition. The Ethics Review Board may
issue a letter of admonition to any individual subject to the municipal
campaign finance regulations where the board finds that the violation was minor
and/or may have been unintentional or inadvertent;
(3)
Letter of
Reprimand. The Ethics Review Board may
issue a letter of reprimand to any individual subject to the municipal campaign
finance regulations where the board finds that the violation was made
intentionally or knowingly;
(4)
Referral to Ethics Training. Upon finding of violation of the municipal campaign finance regulations, the
Ethics Review Board may require any individual subject to the municipal
campaign finance regulations to attend training on these regulations;
(5)
a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500)
where the Board finds that the violation was made intentionally or knowingly. Each day after any deadline for which any
required statement has not been filed, or for which a statement on file is
incorrect, misleading, or incomplete, constitutes a separate offense.
(d) The rules and procedures set out in
Chapter 2, Article III of the City Code (Ethics Code), Sections 2-80 through
2-91 shall apply to the enforcement of this article (municipal campaign finance
regulations), including:
(1)
procedures
for filing and responding to complaints of violations of the municipal campaign
finance regulations;
(2)
disposition
of complaints;
(3)
the
imposition or recommendation of sanctions;
(4)
extension
of deadlines; and
(5)
the
timeliness of filings
DIVISION 7. EFFECTIVE DATE
Sec. 2-311 Effective Date
(a) This article is effective August 15, 2004.
(b) This article applies to a political contribution
accepted or political expenditure made on or after the effective date.
(c) A political contribution accepted or a political
expenditure made before the effective date of this article is governed by law in
effect on the date the contribution was accepted or the expenditure was made.
(d) A political contribution may not be accepted
after the effective date of this article if the contribution from that donor,
together with all contributions from that donor accepted before the effective
date of this article, would exceed the maximum contribution established by
Section 2-302.
(e)
A candidate or officeholder who has made a political expenditure from personal
funds before the effective date of this article may reimburse his or her
personal funds for that political expenditure from political contributions
accepted before the effective date of this article.
(f)
A candidate or officeholder who has made a political expenditure from personal
funds before the effective date of this article may reimburse his or her
personal funds for that political expenditure from political contributions
accepted after the effective date of this article in amount that in the
aggregate does not exceed the limit imposed by Section 2-304 of this article.
SECTION 2. This ordinance is effective on August 15, 2004.