City Council Increases Limit for Campaign Contributions

Future candidates for Santa Monica’s highest-elected positions will have to operate within a slightly altered set of campaign finance regulations, thanks to a couple of votes at .

The first, a 5-1 decision with Councilman Kevin McKeown providing the single dissenting vote, increased the limit for individual monetary campaign contributions from $250 to $400, updating a figure that had stood since its adoption in 1992.

Though McKeown expressed concern that an increased limit would promote more corporate contributions and fewer constituent donations, other council members noted the ever-increasing costs of running a campaign and the outdated and insufficient $250 figure as justification for the change.

The council also voted unanimously to institute a flat $200 registration fee for City Council candidates.

Again, McKeown was outspoken about his wish to keep financial limitations from influencing the candidate pool in Santa Monica elections.

Mayor said he was convinced that a couple of hundred dollars would not be a prohibitive amount to most candidates, and suggested that the fee might lead to improvements in the city’s elections, since prospective candidates would have to make a more substantial, quantifiable commitment to running for office.

“I think, in most pursuits, it’s best to have some skin in the game,” he said. “It makes you take what you’re doing more seriously.”

Meanwhile, discussions surrounding the financing of new senior apartments on Euclid, 18th and 19th streets became a bit raucous, mostly regarding the definition of senior group living facilities and the kitchen facilities that will be provided at the proposed sites.

Community members spoke out during the public comment period, expressing confusion over the working descriptions of the housing facilities.

City Attorney Marsha Moutrie presented language that clarified the confusion: The 24 units at 1924 and 1934 Euclid St. would be senior group housing, with a small kitchen in each unit and a larger group kitchen for communal cooking; the 18 units at the 18th Street site would be senior housing, with no communal kitchen; the seven units on 19th Street would be multifamily rental housing.

The council voted unanimously to table the item for further review so that additional community concerns and questions could be addressed.

At the request of the , the council also unanimously adopted two ordinances regarding public safety in parks and on beaches.

Also on Tuesday night, council members addressed the ordinance regarding open containers of alcohol in public parks and beaches in Santa Monica, a step that the police department said would help improve its ability to enforce alcohol laws throughout the city.

The second ordinance adjusted Santa Monica laws regarding the operation of motor vehicles on public beaches. Previously, the law stated that vehicles were only allowed on the beach for emergency purposes, but because city employees, contracted city affiliates and other non-emergency vehicles use the beach every day, the change makes the law consistent with current practices.

Though the beach vehicles ordinance passed unanimously, a number of council members gave strong warnings about the potential hazards of approving the change, and insisted that all those allowed to drive on the beach be given some amount of training to ensure that an accident with a pedestrian does not occur.