ESCONDIDO CONSIDERS CONTRIBUTIONS

City Council to discuss limiting amount that can be given to campaigns

The amount of money individuals could contribute to City Council and mayoral campaigns in Escondido may be drastically reduced when the council takes up the matter Wednesday.

Right now, Escondido has the highest limits of all cities in San Diego County that have such guidelines. Under the current ordinance, people can donate up to $4,300 to a candidate. A suggestion from city staff, responding to Mayor Paul Mcnamara’s request to reconsider contribution limits, talks about setting a $250 limit in district-only council races and a $600 limit in the citywide mayor’s contest.

The council is also going to discuss, at the suggestion of Councilwoman

Olga Diaz, the possibility of limiting or denying contributions from people or companies that may have business coming before the council in the future, much as the city of San Marcos does now.

Reviewing and possibly lowering contribution limits was a promise made by Mcnamara during his 2018 campaign, which ended with his ousting Sam Abed from office. The election of Consuelo Martinez over incumbent Councilman Ed Gallo during the same election turned the conservative majority of the council on its head, with Mcnamara, Martinez and Diaz now in control of a much more progressive agenda.

Five cities in the county currently have no local rules regarding contributions: Carlsbad, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, National City and Oceanside. By default, the maximum that can be donated in those cities will be $4,700 as of Jan. 1, 2021, the amount provided for in the Government Code for contributions to candidates running in

state legislative races.

Compared to other cities in the county with limits, Escondido’s is quite high.

For instance, San Diego allows for contributions of no more than $600 for council candidates and $1,150 for mayor and city attorney. Chula Vista has a $350 limit for individuals. Santee is set at $700, Vista at $300, Encinitas and San Marcos at $250, Solana Beach and Poway at $100, and Lemon Grove at $1,000. Many of those limits are indexed for inflation and may be a bit higher, according to a report prepared for the Escondido council meeting.

“The City Council has authority, and has exercised its authority in the past, to set campaign contribution limits consistent with state law,” City Attorney Michael Mcguinness wrote in the report. “The council members are most knowledgeable about the difficulties and practicalities involved in raising money for a local election, both as an incumbent and as a challenger in this jurisdiction.

“The benchmark for setting any local limits should be that it neither advantages nor disadvantages any candidate, is consistent with First Amendment and state constitutional principles, will be an amount that is fair to all who seek to achieve an elective office and to contributors who wish to voice their First Amendment right to support local candidates.”

The council is also expected to consider limiting the amount of money that can be contributed by people who have had matters come before the council or will in the future (perhaps in the next 12 months).

San Marcos has on the books two rules: one says that within 12 months after receiving a campaign contribution or other income totaling $100 or more from a source, members of the City Council are prohibited from participating or attempting to influence any governmental decision or action which might “reasonably have a foreseeable material financial effect on the campaign contributor.”

The second rule says no council member can accept a contribution from a source of $100 or more within 12 months after having made an official decision that may have had a material financial effect on the contributor.

In past elections, significant sums of money have been pumped into Escondido council and mayoral campaigns, often by developers or people connected to development companies that have big projects pending before the city.