SAN BERNARDINO – San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved revisions to its campaign finance reform ordinance, two years after it was established to combat corruption.
The changes come at the request of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, or FPPC, which the county contracts with to enforce its ordinance, county spokesman David Wert said.
“The sole purpose of the item is to have the language in the county ordinance more closely match the language in the state Political Reform Act, so the FPPC can more easily enforce the county ordinance and provide proper advice to candidates and contributors,” Wert said.
Approved by California voters in 1974. the Political Reform Act governs disclosure of political campaign contributions and spending by candidates and ballot measure committees. It also sets ethics rules for state and local government officials as to their votes and decisions on matters in which they may have a financial interest.
“If they (candidates) lose the primary, they have to return that money,” said Hyla Wagner, an attorney for the FPPC. “It’s just to make it conform more to the Political Reform Act so we can advise on it more easily.”
Under the revised ordinance, the term “independent expenditure committee” will be removed from a section of the ordinance pertaining to electronic filing requirements for contributions of $10,000 or more to candidates and said committees. The term “independent expenditure committee” will be replaced with the language “other person, entity, or committee.”
In December 2012, the county entered into an unprecedented contract with the FPPC to enforce its ordinance. San Bernardino County is the only county in the state to contract with the state political watchdog for such a purpose. The FPPC has thus far not taken any enforcement action related to the ordinance, FPPC spokesman Richard Hertz said.
The ordinance itself was touted as ushering in a new era for the county, which had been plagued with corruption scandals.
Establishing it was a move supervisors said would help bolster confidence in a county that saw several top officials charged with crimes in recent years.
Full story by Joe Nelson www.dailybulletin.com.
