401 - POLITICAL
ACTIVITIES OF COUNTY EMPLOYEES CONCERNING BALLOT MEASURES
General Rule
The General Rule
applicable to political activities of public employees with respect to ballot
measures is as follows:
"No restriction
shall be placed on the political activities of any officer or employee of a...local agency." (Government Code
Section 3203)
Restrictions
There are substantial
exceptions to the above-stated General Rule:
1. Use of Position to Influence Other Employees. An officer
or employee of the County may not use his/her position to influence the
political activities of other employees. (Government Code Section 3204)
2. Solicitation of Contributions from Other Employees. An
officer or employee of a local agency shall not, directly, or indirectly,
solicit political funds or contributions, knowingly, from other officers or
employees of the local agency or from persons on the employment lists of the
local agency. Nothing in this section prohibits an officer or employee of a
local agency from communicating through mail or by other means requests for
political funds or contributions to a significant segment of the public, which
may include officers, or employees of the local agency. (Government Code
Section 3205)
3. Participation in Political Activities in
Uniform. No officer or employee of a
local agency shall participate in political activities of any kind while in
uniform. (Government Code Section 3206)
4. Political
Activities During Work Hours or on Premises.
The Board of Supervisors may prohibit or otherwise restrict the
following:
a. Officers and employees engaging in political activity during
working hours.
b. Political activities on the premises of the local agency.
To this date, the Board of Supervisors has
not established such rules and regulations.
5. Use of County
Funds to Influence Election. As a
general rule, the use of public funds or campaign purposes to influence voters
in a pending election is prohibited (Mines v. DelValle (1927) 201 Cal. 273;
Stanson v. Mott (1976) 7 Cal. 3d 206) absent clear and unmistakable authority
to do so. There is no such existing statutory authority for a County.
Nevertheless, a County does have the authority to use
public funds for informational purposes to provide the public with a fair
representation of relevant information relating to a ballot measure which the
County has submitted to the voters (Stanson, supra, at 221).
".... a
fair presentation of the facts will necessarily include all consequences, good
and bad, of the proposal,
not only the anticipated
improvement ... but also
the increased tax(e s) .... and
other less desirable consequences as may be
foreseen (Citizens to Protect Public Funds, The Board of Education (1953) 98 A.2d 673, 677).
Frequently the line between unauthorized campaign
expenditures and authorized informational activities is not clear.
The following are examples of uses of funds, which are
clearly campaign expenditures:
a. County Payment of Salary or Expenses for
Campaign Activity. Contributions by a governmental entity to a political
campaign are per se illegal as gifts of public funds (FPPC v. Suitt (1979) 90
Cal. App. 3d 125; Cal. Const. Art. 16 S 6). This includes contributions in the
form of payment of salary or expenses of county officers, employees, or agents
while they are performing "campaign activities" as opposed to
legislative, executive, or administrative functions (Suitt, supra at 130-131). The FPPC has adopted a regulation 2
Cal. Adm. C. S 18420) listing (but not
exhaustively) activities which are "campaign activities." As such, the following activities are illegal per se:
(1) Arranging and coordinating a
campaign-related event;
(2) Acting in
the capacity of the campaign manager or coordinator;
(3) Soliciting,
receiving, or acknowledging campaign contributions or arranging for the raising of contributions;
(4) Developing, writing or distribution of
campaign literature or making arrangements for campaign literature
;
(5) Arrangement for the development, production
or distribution of campaign literature;
(6) Preparing
television, radio or
newspaper campaign
advertisements;
(7)
Establishing liaison with or
coordinating activities of campaign
volunteers;
(8) Preparing campaign budgets;
(9) Preparing campaign statements; and
(10) Participating in partisan get out the vote
drives.
Nothing in the foregoing shall require the reporting of
employees' campaign activities if such activities are performed on vacation
time or other than during publicly paid working hours. Furthermore, the payment
of salary or expenses by the County to an elected official shall not be an
expenditure or contribution.
b. County
Funding of Campaign Materials, Advertisements, Literature, Etc. The use of
public funds to purchase such items as bumper stickers, posters, advertising
floats, or television and radio spots, unquestionably constitutes improper
campaign activity. V Furthermore, utilization of County equipment, stationery,
stamps, or other materials in support of a ballot measure campaign is
prohibited.
Permitted Activities
The foregoing
restrictions do not prohibit the following political activities of public
employees:
1. Right to Vote
and Express Opinion. County officers and employees have the right to express
their opinion and vote on ballot measures.
2. Customary Political Activities. Activities
such as making a political contribution, circulating literature, or wearing a
campaign button are permissible activities for public employees if done in a
time, place, and manner so as not to interfere with performance of their work.
3. Use of County
Funds for Fair Informational Purposes.
County funds may be used for informational purposes to provide the
public with a fair presentation of relevant information relating to a ballot
measure, which the County has submitted in this respect:
a. Information disseminated should not be illustrated with cartoons
or other diagrams, which are reasonably susceptible to an interpretation, which
advocates a position on a ballot measure;
b.
Information disseminated should avoid the use of imprecise,
emotion-evoking terms such as "disastrous," "devastating," etc.;
c. Information disseminated should be in the
form of statements, which are factual and are presented in a manner, which does
not distort or exaggerate;
d. A county
officer or employee, when requested by a public or private organization to do
so, may attend a meeting of such organization to make a fair informational
presentation.
e. Factual
information to be disseminated, if in compliance with the above guidelines, may
be obtained from a document prepared by non-County sources. However, the County
should not act as a distributor of leaflets, brochures or other publications
prepared by non-County organizations.
f. Individuals or bona fide organizations of
citizens may obtain from the County all the facts gathered by the County
pertaining to the issues of the election affecting the County and may,
expending their own funds and using their own facilities, actively campaign for
or against the ballot measure; and
g. County
facilities may be used by individuals or bona fide organizations of citizens
under the rules and regulations adopted by the County for the use of its
facilities, for the purpose of influencing the voters with respect to the
ballot measure, so long as all sides of such ballot measure are treated equally
under such rules and regulations.