Council keeps election reporting at $25 Council keeps election reporting at $25 (February 25, 2005)

Campaigns becoming costly but disclosure amounts stay low
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

The City Council voted unanimously last week to keep the dollar amount at $25 for campaign contributions that have to be reported for candidates or initiatives.

"Two-thirds of mine were $25 and I think it's useful to know (who contributed)," said Councilman Matt Sullivan, who was elected for the first time in November. "If we had a $100 limit, you would only know one-third of the people who contributed to my campaign. I think we need to be on the side of more open disclosure rather than less."

State law requires that candidates report campaign contributions over $100 but it also allows cities to make that limit lower. In 1994, Pleasanton adopted an ordinance requiring a candidate or committee for an initiative to disclose the name, address, occupation and place of employment for anyone giving $25 or more to a campaign.

Mary Roberts, who was treasurer for Councilman Steve Brozosky and for Councilwoman Cindy McGovern, said she didn't mind recording the figures but it was sometimes difficult to gather the other information.

"It's the process of badgering people to find out what they do for a living," Roberts said. "It's amazing how many 'housewives' and 'retired people' there are in this city."

While she agreed people should have to report their contributions at some amount, she said, "I was trying to train a treasurer this morning and I'd love to be able to tell him he doesn't have to do 25 pages of donations."

"This measure to weaken openness is an assault on the democratic process," said Joe Ely of Windsor Court. "The excuse that it's burdensome is pathetic. Secrecy does not belong in campaign finance."

The matter was on the agenda at the request of Brozosky.

"One of my concerns is the escalating cost of elections in this town," Brozosky said. "Each year it gets more expensive." He noted that while candidates used to need to raise about $10,000, Mayor Jennifer Hosterman raised almost $34,000.

"I think that people are concerned about the larger donations," he said. "There's a perception that if people give $1,000 they may be expecting back."

McGovern said that one person gave her $24.99, because she didn't want it to be public record due to her husband's place of employment. "No matter what the limit is, some will give you less," she noted. "I'm comfortable with what we have."

City Manager Nelson Fialho said that other Tri-Valley cities have a maximum that can be donated, with Dublin capping contributions at $300 and Livermore at $250. San Ramon mandates that individual candidates cannot spend more than $12,536 on their election.

Livermore also requires contributions of $25 to be reported; Dublin and San Ramon follow the state minimum of $100. Dublin also limits individual contributions from one supporter to $300, and Livermore limits them to $250.

"I'm not interested in changing our ordinances to affect a campaign limit," said Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, noting that she was now in a highly visible position, which would make it difficult for anyone to run against her.

In the November election, in cash and non-monetary contributions, Hosterman raised $33,347; McGovern, $11,689; and Sullivan, $10,802.

Other mayoral candidates were Kay Ayala, who raised $15,035; and Gabe Kralik, who raised $19,897. City Council candidate Jerry Thorne raised $24,404.

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