Oakland Municipal Code Art. V Disbursement of Public Financing

A. The Public Ethics Commission shall develop any and all forms necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act. The Public Ethics Commission may, in its discretion, require any document or form to be filed in an electronic format that is provided by the Public Ethics Commission to the candidates free of charge.

B. The Public Ethics Commission shall review records submitted to determine a candidate's eligibility to receive public financing and requests for reimbursement promptly. For any candidate determined not to be eligible for public financing, the Commission or its designee shall inform the candidate of the reasons why the candidate is not eligible and what actions, if any, the candidate may take to correct any insufficiencies.

C. The City Auditor may conduct a discretionary audit of the Public Ethics Commission's disbursement of public financing funds to candidates or may conduct discretionary audits of the campaign committee of any candidate who receives public financing. The audit report shall be a public record and provided to the Public Ethics Commission. The City Auditor shall conduct all audits in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

A. Public financing pursuant to this Act shall be provided solely by reimbursing eligible candidates for certain qualified campaign expenditures lawfully made by the candidate and his or her campaign committee.

B. The qualified campaign expenditures eligible for reimbursement are:

1. Candidate filing and ballot fees;

2. Printed campaign literature and production costs;

3. Postage;

4. Print advertisements;

5. Radio airtime and production costs;

6. Television or cable airtime and production costs; and

7. Website design and maintenance costs.

C. The following conditions and restrictions shall apply to any request for reimbursement:

1. All requests for reimbursement shall be made on a form authorized by the Public Ethics Commission and shall include:

a. A copy of the billing invoice for which reimbursement is sought;

b. A copy of the check(s) by which the candidate's campaign committee made payment on the billing invoice; and

c. A copy, when applicable, of the campaign literature, advertisement, radio or television script, or website configuration.

2. All requests for reimbursement shall include a sworn declaration by the candidate and his or her campaign treasurer that:

a. The check(s) used to make payment on the billing invoice represents payment in full of the billing invoice submitted for reimbursement and that sufficient funds exist in the campaign account to provide payment; and

b. Any money received from the election campaign fund has not been previously earmarked or specifically encumbered to pay or to secure payment of any loan, return of contribution or of any expenditure other than the one (1) for which reimbursement was sought.

D. Any decision made by the Executive Director to deny a request for reimbursement may be appealed to the Commission whose decision shall be final. A request to agendize an appeal of the Executive Director's decision shall be made in writing and delivered to the office of the Public Ethics Commission no more than ten (10) calendar days after receiving written notice of the Executive Director's decision.

E. The total amount of public financing allocated to each candidate shall not exceed thirty percent (30%) of the voluntary expenditure limit per election for the office being sought.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

A. A candidate or candidate's controlled committee, certified as eligible to receive public financing, shall submit requests for reimbursement to the Public Ethics Commission in minimum increments of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or more.

B. A candidate or candidate's controlled committee, certified as eligible to receive public financing, shall submit requests for reimbursement in minimum increments of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or more ten (10) calendar days before the election.

C. The Public Ethics Commission or its designee shall have ten (10) calendar days to cause the review and approval or denial of the request for reimbursement and disburse funds from the election campaign fund to the candidate or candidate's controlled committee,

D. All funds disbursed from the election campaign fund shall be made payable to the candidate's controlled committee and shall be deposited directly into the candidate's campaign checking account within thirty (30) calendar days of receipt.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

A. Surplus campaign funds remaining at the end of the post-election reporting period following the election for which public financing was received shall be returned to the election campaign fund no later than thirty-one (31) calendar days from the last day of the semi-annual reporting period following the election in an amount specified by this Section. A candidate shall not be required to return any surplus funds in an amount greater than the amount of public financing received. The amount of surplus campaign funds to be returned to the election campaign fund shall be calculated by multiplying the amount of surplus campaign funds by the percentage that total public financing received represents of total monetary contributions received for the election period.

B. For purposes of this Act, campaign funds shall be considered "surplus" campaign funds to the extent that the total amount of contributions (excluding the receipt of public financing) exceed the total financial obligations of the candidate's campaign committee (excluding unlawful or non-qualified campaign expenditures) as of the last day of the semi-annual reporting period following the election. A financial obligation includes:

1. Accounts payable billed; or

2. Accounts payable for which bills may be expected, for goods or services received during the election.

C. Public financing shall not be disbursed to the certified candidate from the election campaign fund following the day of the election or the candidate's withdrawal from the election, whichever occurs first, except that public financing may be disbursed to a certified candidate after the date of the election or withdrawal provided that the candidate submitted a properly documented request for reimbursement before the date of the election or the date of withdrawal from the election.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

The Public Ethics Commission is the sole body for civil enforcement of this Act. In the event criminal violations of the Act come to the attention of the Public Ethics Commission, the Commission shall promptly advise in writing the City Attorney and the appropriate prosecuting enforcement agency.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

Any person who knowingly or willfully (l) misrepresents his or her eligibility for public financing, (2) makes a material misrepresentation in connection with a request for reimbursement, or (3) causes, aids or abets any other person to violate the provisions of this Act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Prosecution shall be commenced within four (4) years after the date on which the violation occurred.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

A. Any person who intentionally or negligently (1) misrepresents his or her eligibility for public financing, (2) makes a material misrepresentation in connection with a request for reimbursement, or (3) causes, aids or abets any other person to violate the provisions of this Act, is subject to enforcement proceedings before the public ethics commission pursuant to the public ethics commission general rules of procedure.

B. If two (2) or more persons are responsible for any violation, they shall be jointly and severally liable.

C. Any person alleging a violation of this Act shall first file with the Public Ethics Commission a written complaint on a form approved for such purpose. The complaint shall contain a statement of the grounds for believing a violation has occurred. The Public Ethics Commission shall review, investigate and make determinations regarding any alleged violation consistent with the Public Ethics Commission's general complaint procedures.

D. The Commission has full authority to settle any action involving public financing in the interest of justice.

E. If the Commission determines a violation has occurred, the Commission is hereby authorized to administer appropriate penalties and fines not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per violation and to order the repayment of public financing received or expended in violation of law.

F. The Public Ethics Commission may sue for injunctive relief to enjoin violations or to compel compliance with the provisions of this Act.

G. No complaint alleging a violation of any provision of this Act shall be filed more than four (4) years after the date the violation occurred.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

The Act shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purposes.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

Nothing in this Act shall exempt any person from applicable provisions of any other laws of the City, State or other appropriate jurisdiction.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Act to the extent it can be given effect, or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and to this extent the provisions of this Act are severable.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)

This Chapter shall be operative for the 2024 general election only.

(Ord. No. 13767, Art. I, 11-7-2023)