09-23-74 Council Meeting Minutes

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.".."."i"F.".. i"F'F.. F i + . " . " F' +."..'F"}' +."..'+..... 'i' +'F.'f . "F...}" E.. .".'{-"F.. } . ..... . +. f '.."F.".. +'f"'F..'F... F"."F.i"'t"F....T'tt"r -H REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 23, 1974 Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend met in the Council Chambers of the County -City Building on Monday, September 23, 1974, at 7:03 p.m., Council President Peter J. Nemeth presiding. The meeting was called to order and the Pledge to the Flag was given. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Councilmen Serge, Szymkowiak, Miller, Parent, Taylor, Kopczynski, Horvath, Newburn and Nemeth. ABSENT: None. Councilman Horvath made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole, seconded by Councilmax Taylor. The motion carried COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend met in the Committee of the Whole on Monday, September 23, 1974, at 7:04 p.m., with nine members present. Chairman Odell Newburn presided`. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES WITHIN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND. This being the time heretofore set for public hearing on the above ordinance, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Council President Nemeth made the presentation for `the ; ordinance. He indicated that he was not going to go over everything that had been previous discussed at the public hearing on the ordinance on August 12th, but that he wanted to pick up whet the Council had left off. He stated that there has been much conversation and discussion by the Council and certain interested citizens and groups. He felt it was the concensus of opinion that there should be some limitations on spending and contributions, and disclosure both before and aft( elections. He indicated that he had proposed certain amendments to the ordinance and he explained the amendments. The first change appeared on the first page regarding the meaning of the word "contributions He stated that a new paragraph (4) was inserted which was directly taken from the ordinance presented by the administration pertaining to the meaning of the word "expenditures HE added that he had deleted (b) from the section however, the remainder of paragraph (4) was as appeared in the Mayor's ordinance. Section V had been changed by deleting a few minor words, such as "solicit" Section VI had been amended simply to acknowledge state law to prohibit policemen and 'firemen from engaging in political activities. Council President Nemeth stated that -a new section VII had been added which set up a Fair Campaign Practices Commission of four members who would be appointed by the Mayor subject to approval of the Common Council. The procedures of the County Election Board would be followed and nothing would prohibit the County Election Board from serving on the commission if agreed to by the Mayor, Common Council and Election Board. The limi- tation on contributions had been changed to $500 for Mayor, $250 for Clerk and $100 for Councilman There was a new _section dealing with disclosure of finances. An account would have to be set up for contributions and expenditures, of a candidate. Disclosure of aggregate expenditures and con- tributions would be required of all amounts of $25 or over. Council President Nemeth made a motio - to amend the ordinance as he had explained and as presented to the City Clerk, seconded by Council Kopczynski. Councilman Miller indicated that, if the contributions were lowered, it might help the popular -typ candidate but might 'restrict ` the candidate that was not well known. He felt every person should have an equal chance of running. He stated that there were severe problems with a campaign reform measure. He objected to "Section VII whereby the Fair Campaign Practices Commission would be made up of 20% of the vote of the previous party. He felt it should be a bi- partisan board appointed by the county chairpersons. Councilman Parent agreed that the ordinance was very complicated to prepare. He indicated that another ordinance had been introduced by the administration pertaining to campaign' reform. He expressed disappointment that the ordinance presented by Council President Nemeth did not require -a candidate to file a personal financial statement. He did not see any problems with city employees working for a candidate on their own time. Councilman Taylor stated that he was pleased with Section IX pertaining to disclosure of campaign finances. He felt this was -a -very strong part of the ordinance. He stated that, if limits are set on how much a candidat can receive, some of the public had the idea that a person could only contribute $500. He felt th a contribution of more than $500 could be made to the political party, not directly to the candida He stated that he would never "try to sell the one percent club" as a method of doing good busines however, he felt that, when there isn't a one percent club, there is a greater tendency on "kick- backs". He wondered what the substitute could be for the one percent club, and he felt this was a very debatable point and alternative methods of funding would have to be found. Councilman Kopczynski felt the amendments proposed by Council President Nemeth were good and the total ordinance was made "palatable" by the proposed amendments. He felt fair campaign practices were needed in the city, and he stated that, if a certain section of the ordinance would be found at some future date to be ineffective or unworkable, the ordinance could always be amended. Council