HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/6/2024 Item 6b, Hermann / Wilbanks - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: February 6, 2024February 6, 2024
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager
Megan Wilbanks, Deputy City Clerk
VIA: Derek Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM 6B - UPDATE ON SB 1439 (THE LEVINE ACT) AND INTRODUCE
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.40.040 (CAMPAIGN
CONTRIBUTION LIMITATIONS)
Staff received the following questions, regarding Senate Bill 1439 and its impact on local
elected officials. The questions are below with staff’s response shown in italics:
1) How many items have come to council in the last 2 -3 years that would have
been impacted by SB 1439 and would have required disclosure by either
speakers, councilmembers or both?
Answer: A review of the items that came before the City Council in 2021, 2022 and
2023 that would have been subject to SB 1439 are shown in the chart below:
Year Land Use License and Permits
Contracts (other than
competitively bid, labor or
personal employment
contracts)
2021 11 5
2022 13 7
2023 6 7
2) Would approval of things like HRC grants be impacted? Or are those
considered competitive and exempt?
Answer: Staff will need to request advice from the FPPC to confirm the City’s
process for selecting grant recipients qualifies as a “competitive” process
exception under SB 1439. Currently, it’s staff’s understanding that any grant
program (DEI High Impact Grants, Human Services Grants, Community
Development Block Grants) where the City Council approves the funding amounts
and recipients, are subject to the provisions of SB 1439, as recipients are entering
into a contractual agreement with the City and have a direct financial benefit from
receiving the grant funding.
Item 6b. SB 1439 Update and Introduction of an Ordinance Page 2
If the FPPC determines the City’s grant process does not meet the threshold to
qualify for the “competitively-bid” contract exception1, staff recommends adding a
SB 1439 disclosure to all grant applications, consistent with the updated
administrative processes described in the staff report for planning applications and
contracts.
3) Will SB 1439 impact our councilmembers in liaison roles on other
committees (HSOC, SLOCOG, etc.) from deliberating and voting on funding
those groups might award?
Answer: Yes. As an elected officer, the requirements of SB 1439 impact your
regional subcommittee assignments, as you have the ability to make, participate
in making, or use your official position to influence a decision in the relevant
entitlement for use proceeding or you exercise authority or budgetary control over
the agency officers who may do so.
As a courtesy, staff will reach out to our regional agency partners to make them
aware of the SB 1439 disclosure requirements and encourage them consider
implementing similar administrative processes discussed in the staff report.
However, it is incumbent upon the official to keep track of contributions accepted
from parties that are the subject of appliable proceedings.
1 Section 84308 defines the term “license, permit, or other entitlement for use” to mean “all business,
professional, trade, and land use licenses and permits and all other entitlements for use, including all
entitlements for land use, all contracts (other than competitively bid, labor, or personal employment
contracts), and all franchises.