Four representatives from the city, including the City Council Campaign Finance Reform Subcommittee of Jim Clarke and Vice Mayor Andy Weissman, braced for the crowd that, momentarily, surely would surge through the anticipatory doors of the Dan Patacchia Room at City Hall.
As predicted, the audience for the community meeting outnumbered the City Hall types. By one.
Mr. Weissman explained the purpose of the unintentionally pocket-sized meeting:
To nudge Culver City toward compliance with state campaign laws that holds cash donations and in-kind donations must be equal.
“We are not doing this because we want to but because we have to,” he said.
When the Council convenes Tuesday evening at 7 in Council Chambers – one day later than usual because of Rosh Hashana – the pending ordinance amends the present rules, dating back to 1989, to limit cash and in-kind donations to $1,000 apiece. Presently, there is a $500 cap on cash donations and none on the other. State law calls for the categories to be equal.
With Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells having recused herself from the discussion, there are three potential outcomes for the Council:
- To prevail, Messrs. Weissman and Clarke, the only advocates for the ordinance, need a mandatory third vote from Mayor Mehaul O’Leary or Jeff Cooper, both of whom are holding out to delay change until after next year’s election.
- A 2-2 deadlock would keep the existing ordinance in effect, subject to any possible legal challenges. The anti-Change Now members likely would bring back the proposed ordinance for reconsideration after April’s election.
- If there is insufficient support for changing the ordinance to conform with state law, and members do not want to risk losing a legal challenge, three could vote to scrap the present ordinance and not have any campaign finance regulations.
