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Applicant Candidates shall file financial disclosures in accordance with Article XIII, Section 4 of this Charter.
(Am. Ord. 2022-042)
(A) There is created in the City Treasury the "Open and Ethical Elections Fund" solely for the purposes of:
(1) financing the election campaigns of Participating Candidates for Covered Offices;
(2) paying administrative and enforcement costs of the Open and Ethical Elections Code; and
(3) carrying out all other specified provisions of the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(B) The City Treasurer shall invest the Fund as other City funds are invested and pursuant to Section 4-1-10 ROA 1994, and all income derived from the Fund shall be credited directly to the Fund. Within 30 days after the end of each fiscal year, the City Treasurer shall furnish the Mayor and Council a report of all investment activity of the past year in connection with the administration of the Fund. Remaining balances at the end of a fiscal year shall remain in the Fund and shall not revert to the general Fund.
(C) Money received from the following sources shall be deposited directly into the Fund:
(1) Qualifying Contributions that have been submitted to the Clerk;
(2) any recurring balance of unspent Fund money distributed to a Participating Candidate who does not remain a Participating Candidate through the municipal election period for which the money was distributed;
(3) money that remains unspent or unencumbered by a Participating Candidate following the date of the regular municipal election;
(4) Seed Money that exceeds 10% of the applicable spending limit; and
(5) additional money appropriated by the Council based on recommendations received by the Clerk and the City Attorney.
(D) One-tenth of 1% of the approved General Fund (Fund 110) appropriation shall be reserved in the Fund to fund Participating Candidates for the 2007 regular municipal election and subsequent regular municipal elections as provided in the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(E) The Fund shall also be funded by voluntary contributions from members of the public. Money in the Fund is appropriated to the Clerk to carry out the purposes of the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(Am. Ord. 2022-042)
(A) Once the Open and Ethical Elections Code is enacted, the Clerk shall prepare and provide to the Mayor and Council an annual report documenting, evaluating and making recommendations relating to the administration, implementation and enforcement of the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(B) In the report, the Clerk shall set out the revenues received to date, the expected costs to the Fund for the next election cycle and the amount of any annual appropriation from the Council that will be required to meet this need.
(Am. Ord. 2022-042)
(A) The Clerk shall distribute money from the Fund to Participating Candidates. The Clerk shall distribute revenue within three business days of certification. In the event that a Candidate's certification for public financing or qualification by the County Clerk as a Candidate has been challenged, the Clerk shall distribute funds to the Participating Candidate within three business days of receiving notice that the certification and/or qualification by the County Clerk as a Candidate has been upheld.
(B) The Clerk shall distribute $2.00 per registered City voter to Mayoral Participating Candidates and $1.25 per registered City voter residing in the district in which the Participating Council Candidate desires to represent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in Council districts containing fewer than 40,000 registered voters, the Clerk shall distribute $40,000 to each Participating Council Candidate, in lieu of $1.25 per registered City voter residing in the district.
(1) Beginning January 15, 2027, and every two years thereafter, the Clerk shall adjust the distribution amount per registered City voter based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The adjustment shall reflect the percentage change in the CPI-U from January 1, 2024, to December 31 of the year preceding the adjustment.
(C) The amount of revenue to be distributed to a Participating Candidate shall be reduced by an amount equal to the aggregate amount of Seed Money contributions received by the Participating Candidate during the Exploratory and Qualifying Periods.
(D) A Participating Candidate may withdraw as a Participating Candidate by filing a written statement of withdrawal with the Clerk.
(E) If the withdrawn Participating Candidate continues to participate in the election as a Non-Participating Candidate then:
(1) at the time the statement of withdrawal is filed, the candidate shall deliver to the Clerk an amount of money equal to all monies distributed to the candidate from the Fund after the candidate was certified as a Participating Candidate plus interest of the total amount of monies received at a rate of 12% per annum.
(F) If a Participating Candidate is not certified as a candidate, in accordance with applicable state and other City law, then the candidate shall deliver to the Clerk an amount of money equal to all monies distributed to the candidate from the Fund after the candidate was certified as a Participating Candidate plus interest of the total amount of monies received at a rate of 12% per annum.
(G) If a Participating Candidate entirely withdraws from a race for a Covered Office then he shall immediately return any amount to the Fund that is unspent or unencumbered at the time he ceases to be a Participating Candidate before a regular municipal election.
(H) If a Participating Candidate becomes unopposed following the distribution of funds, the Participating Candidate shall be promptly given notice by the City Clerk and shall be given three (3) business days after being notified to return any unspent or unencumbered funds. Following the return of funds, the Participating Candidate becomes a privately financed candidate and is no longer subject to the contribution and expenditure requirements of the Open and Ethical Election Code.
(Amended at Regular Municipal Election, November 5, 2019.) (Amended by Ordinance No. 2019-019; Am. Ord. 2022-042; Am. Ord. 2024-036)
(A) Once the certification of participation for Participating Candidates for a regular local election has been completed, the Clerk shall calculate the total amount of money to be distributed in the election cycle, based on the number of Participating Candidates and the allocations specified in Section 12 of the Open and Ethical Elections Code and shall then distribute the Fund revenue within three business days.
(B) If the allocation specified in Subsection A of this section is greater than the total amount available for distribution, then the amounts to be distributed to individual Participating Candidates shall each be reduced by the same percentage as the reduction by which the total amount needed has been reduced relative to the total amount available.
(Am. Ord. 2022-042)
(A) On the Friday after a regular local election when the election results are certified, the Clerk shall issue Fund revenue to each Participating Candidate involved in a runoff election in the following amounts:
(1) for Mayoral candidates$1.00 per registered City voter; and
(2) for Council candidates$.50 per registered City voter residing in a Council district.
(B) Notwithstanding the foregoing, in Council districts containing fewer than 40,000 registered voters, the Clerk shall distribute$20,000 to each Participating Council Candidate, in lieu of$.50 per registered City voter residing in the district.
(Amended at Regular Municipal Election, November 5, 2019.) (Am. Ord. 2022-042)
Once a candidate is certified as a Participating Candidate, the Clerk shall publish the Participating Candidate's Certification on the City Clerk's website along with the terms and conditions of the Open and Ethical Election Code the Candidate has agreed to abide by.
(Am. Ord. 2020-019; Am. Ord. 2022-042)
The City Attorney and the Clerk shall review the dollar amounts specified in the Open and Ethical Elections Code periodically. The City Attorney and Clerk shall recommend any necessary adjustments to reflect inflation or population change to the Council and Mayor to consider amendments to the Code.
(Am. Ord. 2020-019; Am. Ord. 2022-042)
(A) The Clerk with the assistance of the City Attorney shall adopt rules to insure effective administration of the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(B) The rules shall include procedures for:
(1) qualifications, certification and disbursement of revenues and return of unspent Fund revenues;
(2) obtaining Qualifying Contributions;
(3) certification of a candidate’s participation;
(4) collection of revenues; and
(5) return of Fund disbursements and other money to the Fund.
(C) The Clerk shall provide the public with educational materials relating to the provisions of the Open and Ethical Elections Code.
(Am. Ord. 2020-019; Am. Ord. 2022-042)
The procedure for challenging a decision of the Clerk to grant, deny, or revoke a Candidate's certification as a Participating Candidate is as follows:
(A) A Person aggrieved by the Clerk's decision may appeal to the Clerk within three days of the decision. The appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for appeal;
(B) Within five days after an appeal is properly made, and after due notice is given to the parties in dispute, the City Hearing Officer shall hold a hearing whereby:
(1) the appellant has the burden of providing evidence to demonstrate that the Clerk's decision was improper; and
(2) the City Hearing Officer shall rule on the appeal within three days after the completion of the hearing;
(C) the parties in dispute may appeal the decision of the City Hearing Officer to the Board of Ethics and then to district court as provided by law; and
(D) Participating Candidates whose certification of participation is revoked on appeal may be required to return to the Clerk up to all money distributed from the Fund. If the City Hearing Officer or court finds that an appeal was made frivolously or to cause delay or hardship, the City Hearing Officer or court may sanction the moving party by requiring the party to pay the attorney's fees and administrative and/or court costs of the opposing parties.
(E) For the purposes of this section, “parties in dispute” includes the City.
(Amended by Ordinance No. 2019-019; Am. Ord. 2020-019; Am. Ord. 2022-042)
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