Oakland Municipal Code Art. I Findings and Purpose

This Chapter shall be known as the City of Oakland Campaign Reform Act, hereinafter "the Act."

(Res. No. 89316, § 3, 7-22-2022)

The Oakland City Council finds and declares each of the following:

A. Monetary contributions to political campaigns are a legitimate form of participation in our political process, but the financial strength of certain individuals or organizations should not enable them to exercise a disproportionate or controlling influence on the election of candidates.

B. The rapidly increasing costs of political campaigns have forced many candidates to raise larger and larger percentages of money from interest groups with a specific financial stake in matters under consideration by the City government. This has caused the public perception that votes are being improperly influenced by monetary contributions. This perception is undermining the credibility and integrity of the governmental process.

C. Candidates are raising less money in small contributions and more money in large individual and organizational contributions. This has created the public impression that the small contributor has an insignificant role to play in political campaigns.

D. High campaign costs are forcing elected City officials to spend more time on fundraising and less time on the public's business. The constant pressure to raise contributions is distracting elected City officials from urgent governmental matters.

E. Elected City officials are responding to high campaign costs by raising larger amounts of money. This fundraising distracts them from important public matters, encourages contributions, which may have a corrupting influence, and gives incumbents an overwhelming and patently unfair fundraising advantage over potential challengers.

F. Based on existing circumstances in Oakland, including those enumerated in the Oakland Fair Elections Act, the contribution limits established by this Act will not prevent candidates from raising the resources necessary to run an effective campaign.

G. Disclosure of donors who have financial interests with the City of Oakland and also of City officials who solicit contributions safeguards against potential conflicts of interest.

H. For transparency, and to protect our democracy, including from the risk of secretive big money, it is important that the public have a right to know who is paying for, and who is sending, advocacy and campaign communications.

I. The enhanced transparency requirements established by this Act will ensure the right of Oakland residents to know who is spending big money to influence their vote by requiring disclosure for big independent spenders and by requiring ads run by political committees to identify additional top donors. This additional transparency will enable voters to better evaluate the sources and credibility of the electoral advertising they are receiving.

J. The integrity of the governmental process, the competitiveness of campaigns and public confidence in local officials are all diminishing.

K. This Act shall be liberally construed and vigorously enforced to ensure its purposes are fulfilled.

(Res. No. 89316, § 3, 7-22-2022)

The purpose of this Act is to accomplish the following:

A. To ensure that all individuals and interest groups in our City have a fair and equal opportunity to participate in elective and governmental processes.

B. To reduce the influence of large contributors with a specific financial stake in matters under consideration by the City, and to counter the perception that decisions are influenced more by the size of contributions than by the best interests of the people of Oakland.

C. To limit overall expenditures in campaigns, thereby reducing the pressure on candidates to raise large campaign war chests for defensive purposes, beyond the amount necessary to communicate reasonably with voters.

D. To reduce the advantage of incumbents and thus encourage competition for elective office.

E. To allow candidates and elected City officials to spend a smaller proportion of their time on fundraising and a greater proportion of their time dealing with issues of importance to their constituents and the community.

F. To ensure that serious candidates are able to raise enough money to communicate their views and positions adequately to the public, thereby promoting public discussion of the important issues involved in political campaigns.

G. To curb corruption and the appearance of corruption by providing reasonable limits on contributions to candidates and their campaign committees and requiring disclosure of the sources of money spent to influence elections in Oakland.

H. To ensure that residents of Oakland have more information about the sources of funds that are used to influence their vote by enhancing the public disclosure of independent spending and requiring additional information in on-ad disclaimers by political committees.

I. To help restore public trust in governmental and electoral institutions.

(Res. No. 89316, § 3, 7-22-2022)