2-27 CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE.

Under the California Political Reform Act, independent expenditure committees may send mass mailings to voters for the purpose of calling for the election or defeat of candidates for Town Council. These mass mailings are only required to identify the name of the committee and not the names of those who contribute to or fund the cost of the mailings. Requiring disclosure of funding sources for such mass mailings by independent committees will further two important interests. First, it will help ensure an informed electorate by providing the Town’s voters with the names and business interests of those individuals or entities advocating the election or defeat of Town Council candidates. Second, such disclosures help to avoid corruption in the electoral process by allowing the public to identify those who spend money to support or oppose a candidate. (Ord. #2000-04, §1)

Unless otherwise specifically provided below or required by the context, the words and phrases used in this chapter shall have the same meanings as in the California Elections Code and in the Political Reform Act (Government Code Section 81000 et seq.) and regulations adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission. (Ord. #2000-04, §1)

a. Any committee that makes, during the calendar year in which the election is held, more than one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars in independent expenditures for or against a candidate for town office shall list the following information in a clear and legible manner on the bottom one-third (1/3) of the front page of any mass mailing by the committee in the election for which the independent expenditures were made:

1. The names and occupations of individuals and the names and business interests of non-individuals of the five (5) largest contributors to the committee during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date of distribution of the

mass mailing, listed in order of the amount of contributions. If two (2) or more of the largest contributors have contributed the same amount, they shall be listed according to chronological sequence of contribution. The disclosure shall read: “Major funding by: (name and occupation or business interest).” In the case of contributions from committees, the disclosure shall read: “Major funding by: (name of committee); Expenditures directed by: (name and occupation or business interest of persons or entities who direct or control the expenditures of the committee); and

2. If the committee has received at least one-third (1/3) of its total contributions during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date of distribution of the mass mailing from large out of town contributor(s), the whole top onethird of the disclosure shall state “Major funding from large out of town contributors.” “Large out of town contributors” means those contributors (a) who either are not residents of the Town of Danville or do not have a principal place of business in the Town of Danville, and (b) whose cumulative contributions to the committee are one hundred ($100.00) dollars or more for the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the date of distribution of the mass mailing.

b. When making the disclosures required in subsection (a)( 1), the committee must use the same type size for all words in that disclosure. When making the disclosures required in subsection (a)(2), the committee must use the same type size for all words in that disclosure. The left and right and top and bottom margins of the disclosures shall not exceed one-half (1/2) inch. The space between lines of type shall not be more than one-half (1/2) of the type size. The committee must list each contributor on a new line. The committee shall use the bottom one-third (1/3) of the front page of the mass mailing solely for the purpose of making the disclosure required in subsection (a).

c. For purposes of this chapter, “front page” shall mean the envelope, page or panel where the address is, or in the case of unaddressed items, any outside panel.

d. This chapter does not apply to communications from an organization to its members.

(Ord. #2000-04, §1)

2-28—2-30 RESERVED.