to: Mayor and Town Council
from: Council Committee on Voter Owned Elections: Council Member Sally Greene; Council Member Mark Kleinschmidt; Council Member Bill Strom; Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward
subject: Update on Voter Owned Election Program
date: February 9, 2009
The purpose of this report is to update the Town Council on the status of the Town’s program for public funding for Chapel Hill municipal election campaigns. The attached resolution would call a public hearing for February 23, 2009, to consider adjustments to the Town’s Voter Owned Election Program. The proposed adjustments are being offered in response to comments from the North Carolina State Board of Elections (the Board).
On July 16, 2007, the Town of Chapel Hill received authorization from the North Carolina General Assembly to establish a program for public funding of local municipal election campaigns. The Town is the first local government in North Carolina to have received this legislative authority. The legislation, Session Law 2007-222, requires that the Town’s program be approved by the Board.
Following enactment of the legislation, the Town Council, in November, 2007, appointed a Council Committee to develop a recommended program for the Town to implement this authority. The Committee met over several months and, with staff assistance and the help of Bob Hall and other staff of Democracy North Carolina, presented a recommended program to the Town Council in April, 2008.
On May 14, 2008, the Council conducted a public hearing on the proposed program and, on June 9, 2008, the Town Council, enacted an Ordinance establishing the Town’s Voter Owned Election Program, to be effective upon approval by the Board. The June 9, 2008 report and ordinance enacted by the Town Council are available at: http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/06/09/6
After enactment by the Council, the Ordinance was submitted to the Board. The Board met last fall and raised some concerns and has made recommendations for adjustments and clarifications. The comments and recommendations from members of the Board have been reviewed by staff of the Board and NC Attorney General’s Office.
The enabling legislation requires that the Town conduct a public hearing before establishing the public campaign financing program. Because the State Board of Elections has now requested these substantive changes to the program, the Town Attorney has advised that another public hearing should be held before the Council considers making the adjustments requested by that Board.
The attached proposed ordinance shows the major substantive changes requested by the Board and recommended by the Council Committee to address the concerns raised by the State Board of Elections. (Minor word changes are not highlighted.) We believe that the changes shown in the attached document (Attachment 1) improve the ordinance by clarifying certain terms and the Board’s role in monitoring the Town’s program. The adjustments will be listed more fully in the memorandum for the February 23 hearing.
We recommend that the Council adopt the following resolution to schedule a public hearing on the attached amendments to the program. Following the hearing, the Council would consider enacting amendments to the program. The Ordinance would then be presented to the Board for approval in order for the program to be ready for implementation for the 2009 elections.