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Councilmember Todd Gloria: News From City of San Diego - District Three

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved additional reforms to the city's referendum process. The reforms amend three sections of the municipal code to increase consistency with state law and require petition circulators to provide information to voters on major donors financing a petition. The changes aim to prevent anonymous corporate interests from hijacking the referendum and initiative processes and increase transparency around who is funding petitions. Councilmember Todd Gloria has advocated for such reforms given the increasing number and corporate funding of referendum efforts in San Diego compared to other major California cities.

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Councilmember Todd Gloria: News From City of San Diego - District Three

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved additional reforms to the city's referendum process. The reforms amend three sections of the municipal code to increase consistency with state law and require petition circulators to provide information to voters on major donors financing a petition. The changes aim to prevent anonymous corporate interests from hijacking the referendum and initiative processes and increase transparency around who is funding petitions. Councilmember Todd Gloria has advocated for such reforms given the increasing number and corporate funding of referendum efforts in San Diego compared to other major California cities.

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News from

Councilmember Todd Gloria


City of San Diego District Three
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: December 8, 2015

Contact: Katie Keach, 619-847-8274

City Council Unanimously Approves Additional Reforms


Amendments Ensure Greater Consistency and Disclosure of Petition Funders
SAN DIEGO, CA (December 8, 2015) San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria today
announced the City Councils bipartisan approval of his referendum process reforms. The measures
amend three sections of the Municipal Code to bring them in line with current state law and make
referendum, initiative, and recall processes more consistent. Also approved was a requirement for
petition circulators to provide top donor information to voters at the time they are asked to sign a
petition, complementing changes proposed by Councilmember Gloria and approved by the City
Council in October.
Today the City Council took another critical step to improve consistency in our laws and to
strengthen voter confidence in the initiative and referendum processes, said Councilmember
Gloria. Referenda and initiatives are key parts of a democratic government, and the changes
approved today help ensure the processes are not hijacked further by anonymous corporate
special interests.
Councilmember Gloria has strongly advocated for reforms to the referendum and initiative processes
since the number of such efforts in recent years in San Diego has outpaced those in other major
California cities, and most are organized and funded by large out of town private companies.
In 2014, powerful organizations representing national hoteliers and fast food franchises masqueraded
as the Small Business Coalition to fight the minimum wage increase approved by the City Council.
They deceived enough San Diegans to sign a petition that the measures implementation was put on
hold and will appear on the June 2016 ballot. Several hundred San Diegans withdrew their signatures
upon learning the true nature of the petition was to oppose the minimum wage increase. Had the
Small Business Coalition been required to disclose its funders during the signature gathering period
instead of months later, many San Diegans might not have signed the petitions.
In October, the City Council unanimously approved Councilmember Glorias initial reform measures,
which included the filing of additional campaign statements with the City Clerk during the signature
gathering period to increase transparency and provide more timely information on campaign funders.
With the changed approved today, initiative and referendum petitions will now also be required to
include the following language: Information regarding persons and entities financing this petition shall
be made available to anyone who is asked to sign this petition. You have the right to ask.
Councilmember Gloria continues to work with California legislators to develop of additional reforms at
the state level.

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