Comparison of Petaluma's Campaign Finance Reform Ordinances of 2001, 2003, and 2004 (proposed)

The proposed 2004 Petaluma Campaign Finance ordinance, to be voted on by citizens' initiative, uses 99% of the language of the (weak) existing ordinance 2156, but with a few key variables changed. The following chart summarizes the changes in the proposed ordianance as compared to the existing ordinance 2156, and also to the stronger ordinance 2106 which was in effect in Petaluma from early 2001 to mid-2003.

	Ordinance 2106, effective Jan 2001	Ordinance 2156, effective August 2003	Proposed 2004 citizens initiative
Contribution limit	$200	$500	$200
Disclosure threshold (Contributions above this amount must be repoted)	$.01 (any amount)	Not specified, believed to be $99 per state law	$25
Applies to incumbents?	Arguably unclear (this led to the litigation between the City and Councilmember Bryant Moynihan)	Probably	Definitely
Independent expentiture reporting threshold ("soft money" typically used for mailers not controlled by a candidate)	$25, author must be identified in the mailer	$99, author need not be identified in the mailer	$25, author must be identified in the mailer
Enforcement	City attorney can bring suit against a candidate for violations	County District Attorney is expected to bring suit against candidates or contributors in violation	County District Attorney is expected to bring suit against candidates or contributors in violation
Public financing	Yes (partial), tied to a $20,000 spending limit	No	No
Can be amended or repealed by...	City Council majority	City Council majority	Vote of the people or unanimous vote of the City Council

Analysis by Petaluma Tomorrow www.petalumatomorrow.org