The city council of the city of Sacramento enacts this ordinance to accomplish the following purposes:
A. To encourage public trust in the electoral and decision-making processes of the city, and to ensure that individuals and interest groups have a fair and equal opportunity to participate in the elective and legislative process;
B. To reduce the potential for influence by large contributors with a specific financial stake in matters before the city, thus countering the perception that decisions of municipal officials are influenced more by the size of contributions than by the merits of proposals and what is in the best interest of the people of the city;
C. To assist candidates for municipal elective office in raising enough money to communicate their views and positions adequately to the public without excessive expenditures or large contributions, thereby promoting public discussion of the important issues involved in political campaigns;
D. To limit overall expenditures and campaigns for municipal elective offices, thereby reducing the pressure on candidates to raise large campaign war chests beyond the amount necessary to communicate reasonably with voters;
E. To provide a neutral source of campaign financing by providing a limited amount of public funds to defray a portion of the costs of campaigns for municipal elective office;
F. To encourage smaller contributions;
G. To allow municipal officials and elected candidates to spend a smaller portion of their time on fundraising and a greater proportion of their time discussing important city issues;
H. To help restore public trust in the city's legislative and electoral institutions; and
I. To limit the use of loans and credit in the financing of political campaigns for municipal elective office. (Ord. 2003-046 § 1)