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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 07/27/2004 - CAMPAIGN GUIDELINES DATE: July27, 2004 STUDY SESSION ITEM STAFF: Steve Roy FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION Campaign Guidelines. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED: Does Council want to consider any ordinance or resolution dealing with this subject? BACKGROUND The purpose of this item is to afford Council an opportunity to discuss whether Councilmembers who run for other elective offices should limit their campaign activities in some fashion to avoid any appearance that they are using their office as Councilmember to further their campaigns. Applicable Law Under the City Charter, it is permissible for Councilmembers, including the Mayor, to continue to hold their offices while seeking other elective offices. Article It, Section 18 of the Charter merely states that assuming another elective office creates a vacancy in the office of the Councilmember or Mayor. Thus, Fort Collins is not among those jurisdictions that have a "resign to run" rule. The question, then, is not whether to prohibit Councilmembers from seeking other elective offices, but whether any form of regulation is needed to ensure maximum separation of private campaign activities from official duties. With regard to a Councilmember's use of City equipment for campaign activities, however, the Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act ("FCPA") prohibits the City from making any "contribution" to a candidate's political campaign. Therefore, no City funds may be expended in support of individual campaign activities. Thus, while City policy generally permits a limited amount of personal cell phone or computer use, Councilmembers running for other elective office would be well advised to use separate, personal equipment for any political campaign activities in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety and any possibility of an FCPA violation. Assuming that public expenditures for personal political campaigns can be avoided, next question is whether, and how, to separate the campaign statements and activities of incumbents who are running for higher office from the performance of their official duties as Councilmembers. To address this, Council could choose to enact some guidelines for incumbents seeking other offices, but care would need to be exercised to ensure that such regulations do not run afoul of the First Amendment rights of the incumbent candidates. It is constitutionally permissible for a governing body to impose constraints upon the political activities of persons seeking elective office, at least with regard to partisan political activities, July 27, 2004 Page 2 but only if the restrictions serve legitimate, valid and important public interests, such as maintaining the confidence of citizens in the integrity of government, avoiding the appearance of corruption and advancing the fair and effective operation of the government. Several federal and state laws already limit certain partisan political activities by government employees, and these limitations have generally been upheld by the courts. Local examples of such regulations include the Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act, referenced above, and the City's personnel policies (not applicable to Councilmembers) which prohibit the use of one's position of employment to influence partisan elections and prohibit engaging in any political activity while on duty, in uniform, while using City equipment, etc. The same justifications that support these existing laws and regulations would likely support the adoption of Council guidelines placing reasonable restrictions on the partisan political activities of new incumbents, at least to the extent that those activities involve the expenditure of City funds or the use of City resources. The justifications cited by one court which might be applicable to such limitations include: reducing the possibility of public subsidies for officials running for other offices; preventing abuse of office; and ensuring the loyalty of public servants to their electorate. As a practical matter, however, as long as the City of Fort Collins allows incumbent Councilmembers to run for other elective offices, there will inevitably be some overlap between their official duties as councilmembers and their campaign activities. For example, the FCPA specifically recognizes the First Amendment Right of public officials to express their personal opinions on any issue. Those statements of opinions, as well as Councilmembers' involvement in the various kinds of public outreach activities that accompany their office (coffees, district meetings, etc.), may inevitably have some bearing on the way that voters view the Councilmember's suitability as a candidate for re-election or for another elective office. Thus, while official guidelines may be useful, the City will ultimately need to rely upon the integrity and good judgment of the Councilmembers involved to strike an appropriate balance between their efforts to seek higher office and the performance of their official duties as Councilmembers. Therefore, apart from emphasizing the importance of separating the expenditure of City funds and the use of City resources from campaign activities, it may be difficult to develop meaningful, effective guidelines that will make a significant difference in this area. Staff is seeking direction as to whether Councilmembers want staff to work on the development of an ordinance or resolution on this subject.