City Council Approves Campaign Law Changes

The Poway City Council adopted an ordinance changing various city election laws Tuesday.

The ordinance, which sparked some debate about contribution limits, was presented for its first reading and approved unanimously.

Among the changes to the Poway Municipal Code:

• Allowing campaign contributions from political parties;
• Unexpended campaign funds can be dispersed to charitable organizations instead of returned to donors or or placed in the city's general fund;
• Eliminating the requirement for filing campaign statements on the Friday before the election;
• Increasing the threshold for reporting contributions from $10 to $25;
• Reducing criminal penalties from a maximum fine of $10,000 to $1,000;
• Reducing civil penalties from a fine of maximum $5,000 to $1,000.

The ordinance keeps the individual contribution limit to $100—which caused some debate among council members.

"I still think that is too low," said Councilwoman Merrilee Boyack, who previously expressed her disapproval of the limit at a . "I would ask that we not wait another 31 years to review that dollar amount."

Councilman John Mullin, who made a motion to increase the limit to $200, sided with Boyack, noting that the "minor adjustment" was needed to reflect today's costs.

Other Council members disagreed.

"I think the $100 limit is just fine," said Councilman Dave Grosch. "Money doesn't win elections—hard work does, pounding the pavement does."

The motion failed by a 3-2 vote.

Along with the ordinance, the City Council adopted two resolutions. They ended a policy forcing the city to pay all but $50 of the costs of candidate statements and also established a $200 fee to reimburse the city for some costs and expenses related to processing petitions.

In other council business:

• The City Council approved a resolution amending the Pedestrian Trail System Map.
• Boyack announced that Poway Spirit Day will take place April 14.

See the full agenda here.

Check out the video above to watch the meeting.