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MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE March 9, 2020 East Conference Room Present: Chairman Bullock, Councilmember Neff Also Present: Law Director Corrigan, Acting Finance Director Shuster, Councilmembers Rader, Kepple & Shachner; Deputy Clerk Lascu, Clerk Bach taking minutes Call to Order: 7:37 p.m. Approval of the minutes of the January 21, 2020 and March 2, 2020 Finance Committee meetings. Motion by Chairman Bullock, seconded by Councilmember Neff to approve the minutes from January 21, 2020 and March 2, 2020. All in favor. Motion passed. ORDINANCE 02-2020 -AN ORDINANCE enacting new Chapter 507, Campaign Finance Regulations, of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Lakewood to help preserve the public trust and foster public confidence in city government and elections. Chairman Bullock expressed support for the concept of campaign finance limits but cautioned that the mechanics are very important and so the committee must take the time needed to establish a firm and sound approach. He noted that federal, state, and local governments all have different approaches to campaign finance. The federal limit on donations for congressional races is $2,800 per person per election. He noted that while both candidates in the last mayoral race collected"super donations" from individuals outside of Lakewood, that this is not typical. He concluded that a campaign finance ordinance would make an ethical statement and put limits on mega-donors looking to buy influence in our community. Councilmember Neff referenced the existing requirements for campaign finance reports to be filed with the Board of Elections. The reports are also accessible online. She expressed her position that this level of reporting was sufficient, stating that it provides transparency to the public and oversight over campaign funds. She expressed concern with the potential burden of this on the Law Department and potential unfairness to candidates. Councilmember Rader submitted the attached letter into the record. He noted that he intended the ordinance to be a starting point for discussion. The ordinance as proposed is based on federal campaign finance law. He also remarked on the campaign finance laws in Columbus and Cleveland and discussed the different donation limits in all of these. He also wants to explore the idea of non-refundable tax credits to encourage participation. He stated that it was time to do something and join the other levels of government in campaign finance reform. Councilmember Kepple expressed appreciation for the goals of the ordinance, noting that campaign finance reform would benefit candidates who are less affluent and/or who come from 1