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City attorney: ballot verbiage vetted; council may endorse but cannot use public funds for campaigning
Summary
City attorney and staff told the council the ballot language was vetted by the elections team and clarified that while the council may adopt an official endorsement, council members cannot use city resources to campaign and citizens can file pro-arguments.
When asked whether the ballot language had been legally reviewed, the city attorney confirmed the text had been vetted by the elections team. The attorney said the city did not need to provide overly specific program descriptions on the ballot and that recent edits were acceptable.
Counsel and staff also explained the distinction between an official council endorsement and campaign activity: the council can take an official position endorsing the measure, but council members may not use public resources for campaign planning or paid promotion and would need to use private resources for campaigning. Staff noted that Section 7 of the resolution could be left "to be determined" if the council was not ready to assign specific council members to author pro-arguments.
