Conflicts of Interest

The Municipal Campaign Finance Index (MCFI) is an organized accounting of campaign finance laws in all California cities. The Index and its accompanying report supply comprehensive data and context for California’s municipal campaign finance landscape.

Today, California Common Cause announced its endorsement of San Francisco Measure E on the June 2022 ballot.

Today, California Common Cause lauded San Francisco’s ban on government officials soliciting behested payments from “interested parties” in the wake of a string of controversies involving those payments. The first-of-its-kind ban in California, which went into effect last week, was adopted in response to a massive corruption scandal that was exposed in 2020 involving multiple city departments and high-ranking city officials. Behested payments appear to have played a significant role in the scandal. California Common Cause touted San Francisco’s behested payment law as a model for other jurisdictions and the state to follow.

Sean McMorris, a consultant with good government agency California Common Cause, says the state law “is clear that public resources cannot be used ‘for campaign activity, or personal or other purposes.’ While using a government email account for re-election fundraising might fall within the minimal use exception in the law, depending on the circumstances, it likely violates the letter and certainly the spirit of the law,” he said. “That said, many would agree that an elected official using their government email to fundraise for their re-election campaign is unethical, regardless of whether or not it is unlawful in all instances.”

Today we are releasing a statement of principles that should guide governments using remote proceedings in a crisis, including the current coronavirus pandemic as well as wild fires, earthquakes, or any other emergencies that may affect the Golden State.