Campaign finance reform, a comprehensively sacred-sounding phrase these days, crashed into a Stop sign at last evening’s City Council meeting.
It is not clear whether it will recover from severe injuries in time to affect the next round of Culver City elections in November and next April.
Present regulations, imposing a $500 limit on cash contributions to a candidate and no maximum on in-kind donations, were written in 1989, 26 years ago.
The Council is split three ways on changes.
Even though one crucial campaign regulation – regarding in-kind contributions — directly conflicts with state law, there is no fire-engine rush to a resolution.
At the outset of the reform discussion, member Meghan Sahli-Wells recused herself because she intends to be a candidate for re-election next spring.
Mayor Mehaul O’Leary and member Jeff Cooper indicated they are against implementing changes ahead of the election.
Intriguingly, Vice Mayor Andy Weissman and member Jim Clarke, the subcommittee that studied the distinctions and submitted recommendations, favor immediate implementation.
One overriding reason for their firm stance is that City Hall’s unlimited allowance for in-kind donations is contrary to state law.
Consistent with state law, if the proposed ordinance were adopted, there would no longer be a distinction between cash contributions and non-monetary (in-kind) contributions. With allowances for a quarter-century of inflation, the proposed changes would allow up to $1,000 per person in contributions to a candidate, cash donations and the market value of in-kind gifts combined.
When the ordinance is brought back for a second reading in three weeks, it figures to lose.
