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HomeMy WebLinkAbout23 ORD BANNING GIFTS 07-18-94ENDA____ NO. 23 ~8-94 DATE: July 12, 1994 Inter-Com TO: FROM: SUBJECT: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY F~%/~AGER CITY ATTORNEY ORDINANCE BANNING GIFTS OF $250 OR MORE Enclosed for the consideration of the City Council is a proposed ordinance bannin~ the acceptance of gifts aggregating $250 or more. The'ordinance is similar to restrictions on state officers. The amount cf the limit is designed to coincide with existing provisions of s:ate law affecting local officials. Under the Political Reform Ac:, gifts of $250 or more are permissible, but a City officer or designated employee may not participate in making or in any way a:uempt to use their official position to influence a governmental decision in which there will be a material financial effect on any donor, intermediary or agent for a donor of gifts, aggregating $250 or more. The concept of the proposed ordinance is that if you don't accept such gifts you won't ever be in a position of potentially participating in a decision involving a gift donor. We have suggested a!terna:e wording for your consideration: either a ban on gifts of 3250 or more o__r a ban on gifts up to $249. The point is that once ysu hit S250 you are in the red zone, but up to $249, gifts are perr_.it5ed. The Council should decide which wording it prefers. The proposed ordinance is similar to but not identical to the Levine Act, found in Gcvernmen: Code section 84308. That section applies to appointed officials and specifically addresses campaign contributions of more than $253. I have enclosed a copy of that section for the City C:uncil's information in case they wish to incorporate any of its :rovisions into this ordinance. Additionally, we have attached two pages from a Fair Political Practices Commission. Bul!e:in that describes gift prohibitions of state law that will be:~me effective January 1, 1995. The $270 limit will be adjusted in January of 1995 to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. if the Council still wishes to proceed with its own ordinance, we recommen~ staying with a $250 limit because it coincides better '.;i:n other provisions of the Political Reform Act. ~ . / Lois E. Jeff~ l" LEJ:p×p/cas:D:07/12/94: (T27) Enclosures I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2t 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDINANCE NO. 1129 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, REGARDING RESTRICTIONS ON GIFTS The City Council of the City of Tustin hereby ordains as follows: Section 1. Part 3 entitled "Restrictions on Gifts" hereby added to Chapter 2 of Article 1 of the Tustin City Code, read as follows: PART 3 RESTRICTIONS ON GIFTS is 1230 PURPOSE The City Council finds that the receipt of excessive amounts of gifts by public officials from persons who may do business with the City erodes public confidence in the impartiality of decisions made by those officials. The purpose of this Ordinance is to prohibit the receipt of gifts, valued individually or cumulatively at $250 or more, thereby eliminating, to the extent possible, suc! loss of confidence. 1231 DEFINITIONS Except as otherwise defined, the terms used in this Part 3 including the definition of "gift" shall have the same meaning as defined in the California Political Reform Act (Title 9 of the California Government Code) and regulations issued by the Fair Political Practices Commission pursuant to the authority of the Political Reform Act, as the Act and regulations shall be, from time to time, amended. For the purposes of this part: (a) "City" means the City of Tustin. (b) "City Officer" means every person who is elected or appointed to an office in the City which is specified in Section 87200 of the California Government code. (c) "Designated Employee" means every employee of the City who is designated in the City's Conflict of Interest Code to file a Statement of Economic Interest and every member of a board or commission under the jurisdiction of the City Council required to file such a statement. ! 2 3 4 5 6 7 $ 10 1! 12 13 14 16 17 15 20 21 22 23 24 27 Ordinance No. Pa~e 2 1232 PROHIBITION (a) No City Officer or Designated Employee shall accept gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total value, either individually or cumulatively, of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more. [alternate wording up to two hundred forty-nine dollars ($249)] (b) Gifts which are not subject to limitation under state law and are not required to be disclosed on a Statement of Economic Interest, pursuant to the Political Reform Act and regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission, are not included within the prohibition of 1232(a) above. 1233 PENALTIES (a) Any City Officer or Designated Employee who violates the provisions of Section 1232 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) Any Designated Employee who violates the provisions of Section 1232 may be subject to discipline for such violation, including termination of employment, or removal from office in the case of members of City boards or commissions. 1234 NO CONFLICT WITH STATE LAW INTENDED Nothing contained within this Part 3 is intended to conflict with provisions of the California Political Reform Act or the regulations adopted thereto by the Fair Political Practices Commission, except that this Part 3 is intended to impose a limitation on the acceptance of gifts not found in state law. PASSED AND ADOPTED, at a regular meeting of the City Council for the City of Tustin on this day of , 1994. THOMAS R. SALTARELLI, Mayor ¥_ARY E. WYNN, City Clerk ~ g43(~ 38 (3) The name, street address, and city of the mailer organization as required by paragraph the notice required by paragraph (2) may a same side ur surface of an insert. {4} Each candidate and each ballot meat ire that has paid to appear in the slate mailer is un '_ Any candidate or ballot measure that to appear in the sla~e mailer is no an *. The ° required by this subdivision shall of the same t)~e size, type style, color or contr, and legibility as is used for the name of the candidut the bullet measure name or number and position ado to which the * designation applies except that in shall the ' be, required to be larger than 1 nt boldface type. the designation shall immediatel~ the.mt, me of the candidate, or the name or number pos~uon advocated on the ballot measure where the designutio, appears in the slate of candidates and me~ure~ If there is no slate listing, the designation shall uppaar at ]east once in at least 8-point beldfuce type, immediately following the name of the candidate, or ~e name or number and position advocated on the ballot measure. [5) Thc. numa of any candidate appearing in the slate mailer whe is a member of a political party differing from th,~ political party which the mailer appears by representation or indicia to represent is accompanied, immediute]y below the name, by the party designation af the candidate, in no less than 9- point roman type which shall be in a color or print that construsL~ with the background so as to be easily legible. The desitlnation shall not be required in the case o£candidutes for nonpartisan office. (bi For purposes of the designations required by paragraph 14) of subdivision (al, the payment of any sum made reportable by subdivision (c) of Section 84219 by or at thc- behes! ora candidate or committee, whose numa or position appears in the mailer, Lo the slate muitcr orgdnizaLion, shall constitute a payment to appear requiring the * designation. The payment shall also be deemed to constitute authorization to appear in the mailer. icl A slate mailer that complies with this section ~hu. ll.be d~ecmed to satisfy the requirements of Sections I~0~ uno ] 1704 of thc Elections Code. I i ,~u~ry. Added Vv Santa ] 987, Ch. 905; amended by S~at~. ] 991, ~ 84306. Contributions Received by'Agents of Candidates or Committees. All contributions received by u person acting as an agent of a candidate shall be reported promptly to the candidate or uny of his or her designated agents. All contributiohs received by a person act ng as an agent of a co~mi~r~.e sh~ll be reported promptly to the committev'.~ treasurer or any of his or her designated ~-gent:, "Promptly" as used in this section means not ,ater that; the closing date of an), campaign statement the committee or candidate for whom the contribution is intended is required to file. H~tory: Added by Stat~. 1979. Ch. 779. § 84307. Commlngl~ng with Personal Funds .. No contribution shall.be commingled with tl~e personal funds of the recipient or any other person. Decisiun~: A n_d resjVJe_ml_ _ez 83/15 ( 19 $4} /" §84308. Contributions to Members [ Appointed Boards or Commissions;\ ~_ Disqualification. ~--"~Ca) The clellnitions set Iorth in this subdivision shall govern the interpretation of this section. (I) "Party" means any person who files un application for, or is the subject of, a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use. (2) "Participant' means any person who is not a party but who actively supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use and who has a financial interest in the decision, as described in Article I (commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7. A person actively supports or opposes a particular decision in a proceeding if he or she lobbies in person the o~cers or employees of the agency, testLfies in person before the agency, or otherwise acts to in/luence ofl~cers of the agency. (3) "Agency" means an agency as defined in Section 82003 except that iL does not include the courts or any agency in the judicial branch of government, local elected by the voters, the Legislature, the Board of Equalization, or constitutional officers. IIowever, this section applies to any person who is u member of an exempted agency but is acting as a voting member of another agency. ( ) Office means any elected or appointed officer of un agency, any alternate LO an elected or appointed ?fficer of un agency, and uny candidate for elective afl,ce (5) ~License, permit, or other entitlement fur use" means aH business, professional, trade and land use licenses and permits and all other entitlements for use, including all entitlements for land use, all contracts (other than competitively bid, labor, or personal employment contracts), and all franchises.  (6) "Contribution" includes contributions to~x andidates and committees in federal, state, or h,cal/ ]ections. ~'~,. {b) No officer of an agency shall accept, solicii, o,' L nardirect u contribution _°f more than. two li ndred_ ..... rift) 39 ' dollars ($250) from any party, or his or her agent._or ~ - theory: Added by S~I~ 1982 Ch. 1049; entitlement for use is pending before the agency end for three months following the date a final decision is rendered in the proceeding if the officer knows or has reason to know that the participant has a financial interest, as that term i~ used in Article I (commencing with Section 87100) o£Chapter ?. This prohibition shall apply regardless of whether the officer accepts, solicits, or direct~ the contribution for himself or herself, or on behalf of any other officer, or on behalf of any candidate for office or on behalf of any committee. (c) Prior to tendering any decision in a proceeding involving s license, permit or other entitlement for use pending before an agency, each officer of the agency who ~'ocuivud a contribution within the preceding 12 months m un amount of more than two hundred Fd'ty dollars ($250l from a party or from any participant shall disclose that fact on the record of the proceeding. No officer of un agency shall make, participate in making. or in uny way attempt to use his or her official position to influence the decision in a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use pond~ng before the agency if the officer has willfully or knowingly received a contribution in an amount of more then two hundred fifty dollars ($250) within the preceding 12 months from a party or his or her agent, or from uny participant, or his or her agent Lf the ofi~cer km~ws or has reason to know that the participant has a financial interest in the decision, as that term is described with respect to public officials in Article ! Icommencing wi~h Section 87100) of Chapter ?. If an officer receives a contribution which would otherwise require di~qualL~cation under this section, returns the contribution wi:hin 30 days from the time bu or she knows, or should have known, about the contribution and the proceeding involving a license, permit, or uther entitlement for use, he or she shah be permittod to par~cipate in the proceeding. ~d} A party to a proceeding before an agency invulving u license, permit, or other entitlement for usu shall disclose on Lhe record of the proceeding any cuntribution in an amount of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) made within the preceding 12 months by the potty, or his or her agent, to any of~cer of the agency. No party, or his or her agent, Lo u proceeding involving a license, permit, or other untlt, l~mun! fur u~e pending before uny agency end no p~lrt~mpunt, ur his ur her agent, in the proceeding shall muku u contribution of more than two hundred f~fty dollars ($250) ~ any ot~cer uf that agency during the proceeding end for three months following the date u final decision is rendered by ~.he agency in thc proceeding When u closed corporation is a part)' to, or u participant in, a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use pending before an agency, the majority shareholder is subject to the disclosure end prohibition requirements specified in subdivisions (bt (c), and thi~ subdivision. ~e} Nothing i~ this section shall be construed tu imply that uny contribution subject to being reported under this title sh~ll not be so reported. I~gulaum~: 2Ca~l. CudeofP~gs.S~ctim~ B43~ 2C~ CadeofReg~Sectiun ]B438 1 2 C~I ~e offs. ~ction I B43B'2 2 ~l. ~e or.gL ~ctiun ] 843B.B Opinimm: In teC~iel {1983)8 FPPC Op~. I ~ ~417 ~1990) ~ ~ ~309. Transmittal of Campulgn S~O~ce Buildings. · ~ ~) No ~r~n shah receive or ~rsonally delivc~ or con~ibutlon in the S~ Capi~l, in any or in any o~ce for which the s~te of the rent other/then a {1} ~r~on~lly deliv,r' means deli rv of ~ in ~mn or ~u~ing ~ contri~utioh to be t ~gen[ or interm~iar7. the receip[ of a campaign Ch. ~0. Exem'pfions delivered i contribution Regulations Enlbrcement §84400. § 84400. Exem ~s. Notwithstandir provision o£ the law. thc commission shall exempt uny person. including uny candidal~ comm.it.tee, from uny or the reql ' s of this chapter Article 5. 'l'r~h in Initiative Ad vertising. § 8~,501-g4514 [~epealed I [Sections 8~01 - ~514 regaled by S~ts Ch. 171, e~c~ January 1, 199~ Chap~r 5. ~ons on ~ntributions. ~Z~."°~'ppli=bility 8nd Deflations. ~ 8,1 / 85~o4 / 2. Candidacy. ~ 85200-852~2 ~ ~f~[ibution Limi~tions~ 8530O Practic . omra ission 0 Bulletin __ APRIL/MAY/JUNE 1994 Co.m. mission Amends New Legislation - Defimt on of"Consultant," Expands Defines "Other Public Officials Who Gift/Honoraria Manage Public Investments'' Prohibitions r~t meetings held earlier this year, the Commission fina;ized and adopted regula- tions designed to clarify who "consultants" and "other pub- lic officials who manage public investments' are for purposes of the Political Reform Act. Under the Political Reform Act, certain private sector "consultants' who contract with public agencies can be- come public officials governed by provisions of the Act. If this occurs, they must abide by the conflict of interest rules for California government officials and may be required to file fi- nancial disclosure statements. In 1976 the Commission adopted Regulation 18700 (lo- cated in Title 2, Division 6 of the California Code of Regula- tions), which defined who was a ~consultant" subject to the provisions of the ACt. Over the In this issue.. Enforcement Actions ..... -~J 2 Conflict of Interest Issues .................. Pg 5 Campaign Issues ......... Pg 6 Lobbying Issues .......... Pg 11 Commission Updates ..... Pg 12 Fortune 500 Listings ...... Pg 13 Advice Summaries ....... Pg 18 years, it became apparent that this definition was difficult to apply. In 1992, the Commission staff began holding meetings with interested parties in an at- tempt to make this definition more understandable. It was an extremely difficult process and involved numerous pre- sentations to the Commission for policy direction. At its April 1994 meeting, the Commission adopted amendments to Regulation 18700 clarifying the definition of consultant. Generally, the definition includes only those individuals who, pursuant to a contract with a state or local government a~lency, make final government decisions or per- form substantially all the same duties for an agency that would otherwise be performed by an individual holding a position specified in the agency's con- flict of interest code. ::pUbliC.:iOffiCials 9Vh~: Mai~age. Government Code Sections ~8~200--872~0 set .forth very spe- cific financial disctosure re- quirements for elected public officials, such as State Senators, and other high-ranking but non-elected public officials, such as county counsel. In 1989, Section 87200 was amended to include within its scope "other public officials who manage public investments." While Sec- tion 87200 includes, for exam: (Continued on page 5) Essembly Bill 1542 has been signed by the Governor and will go into effect January 1, 1995. (Chapter 36, Stats. 1994.) Existing provisions of the Po- litical Reform Act (the "Act") im- pose a $1,000 gift and honoraria limit on local elected officehold- ers. AB 1542, which amends Government Code Section 89501: · Lowers the gift limit to th~ same amount imposed ( elected state officers and des- ignated employees .of state agencies. Currently, the Act prohibits elected state officers and state agency officials from accepting gifts totaling $270 per calendar year from a single source. (The gift limit is adjusted biennially to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. The limit will be ad- justed in January 1995.) Prohibits honoraria payments. An "hOnorarium" is a pay- ment received in consider- ation for making a speech, publishing an article, or at- tending a public or private conference, convention, meeting, social event, meal, or like gathering. Expands the gift limit and honoraria prohibition to ce" er local elected officials, C ignated employees of loc=. (Continu ed on page 12) -- ummary of Com n Meetings Augu AP~i!M~ti~~ ~ '~ tion 18526.1--Use of Personal ~ he Fair Political Practices Commission wil[ not hold Chairman Davidian called the April 7, 1994 meeting of the FPPC to order at 9:14 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room, 428 J Street, Sacra- mento. In addition to Chair- man Davidian, Commissioners Richard Brandsma, Raquelle de la Rocha, and Deborah Seller were present. Commissioner Rushford was absent. The Commissioners adopted Regulation 18940--Guide to Gift Regulations, Regulation 18944.2--Gifts to an Agency, and amendments to Regula- tion 18726.7, to renumber to 18944.1--Recip ant of,the Gift: 'Passes or Tickets Given to an · - Agency. The Commissioners al- ;o adopted amendments to Regulation 18700--Public Offi- cial Making or Participating in Making a Governmental Deci- sion (definition of "consul- tent"). The Commission approved a fine of $92,000 in an enforce- ment case against the Yarmouth Grou~3. Details of the case are on page 4. Chairman Davidian called the May 5, 1994 meeting ofthe FPPC to order at 9:10 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room, 428 J Street, Sacramento. In addition to Chairman Davidian, Commissioners Richard Brands- ma, Raquelle de-la Roche, James Rushford, and Deborah Seller were present. Chairman Davidian an- nounced that there will be no '-~ommission meeting in Au- ~st. The Commissioners held ~l~renotice discussion of pro- ?Osed amendments to Regula- Funds for Officeholder Ex- penses. The amendments were scheduled for adoption at the July meeting. The Commis- sioners discussed the Glenn ad- vice letters (Nos. A-92-358 and A-92-358a) and directed the staff to prepare amendments to Regulation 18703--Effect on the Public Generally, for prenotice discussion in Ju!y. The Commissioners ap- proved $53,000 in fines in three enforcement cases. Details of these cases may be found un- der enforcement actions in thi! bulletin. Chairman Davidian called the June 2, 1994 meeting of the FPPC to order at 9:30 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room, 428 J Street, Sacra- mento. In addition to Chair- man Davidian, Commissioners Richard Brandsma, Raquelle de la Rocha, James Rushford, and Deborah Seller were present. The Commissioners rescind- ed that portion of the Franchetti advice letter (No. I- 91-301) which applied the lob- byist contacts test to officers and employees of a lobbyist employer who meet with offi- cials along with the employer's paic~ registered lobbyist. The Commissioners held prenotice discussion of Regula- tion 18229--Definition of De- pendent Child. Additional prenotice discussion will be held at the July meeting. The Commissioners ap- proved $12,000 in fines in three enforcement cases. Details of these cases may be found un- der enforcement actions in thi: bulletin. a Commission meeting during the month of August. 'i'he next regularly scheduled Commis- sion meetingwill be held Thurs- day, Septem~oer 1, 1994. Bi-Monthly Bulletin r~n order to provide more timely information to those affected by the provi- sions of the Political Reform Act, the Commission will return to bi-monthly publicat on of the bulletin. The next publica- tion will be July/August You should receive this issue during the end of August. ~New Legislation (Continuedfrompage government agencies, and elected or appointed members of the ~loverning boards of special districts. ("Special dis- trier" is defined as any agency of the state established for the local performance of govern- mental or proprietary func- tions within limited bound- aries. It includes a county set- vice area, a maintenance dis- trict area, an improvement dis- trict or zone, an air pollution control district, or a redevelop- ment agency.) There are exceptions to the gift limit (e.g. gifts from faro- y members) and honoraria prohibition (e.g., earned in- come received in connection with a bona fide business). In addition, payments received for certain types of travel are not subject to the limit. (See Government Code Section 89506.) If you have questions concerning the legislation, please contact the Commis- sion's Legal Division at (916) 322-5901.