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Council introduces ordinance repealing city campaign contribution cap, reverting to state limit
Summary
The council introduced by title Ordinance No. 409 to repeal Calimesa's local campaign contribution limit (previously $250), which will return contribution limits to the state threshold; staff and council members debated tradeoffs between fairness, disclosure and outside independent spending.
The Calimesa City Council introduced Ordinance No. 409 by title on March 17 to repeal the city’s local campaign contribution limit, returning candidate contribution maximums to the state default amount (the current state threshold cited by staff for the next election cycle is $5,900).
City staff told the council the local $250 cap, adopted in January 2024, was intended to reduce inadvertent conflict‑of‑interest recusal issues after the passage of SB 1439, but produced unintended effects, including confusion among candidates and the potential to amplify independent political‑action‑committee (PAC) influence. Staff recommended…
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