2.80.010 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) The City Council hereby finds that preserving integrity and openness in the political process is a matter of the highest public interest; that the people of the City of San Mateo can be better served through a more informed electorate; that the trust of the people is essential to representative government; and that regulation of certain campaign contributions and loans is necessary to promote public confidence in government and to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

(b) The City Council further finds that regulation of campaign contributions is required because the costs of running political campaigns have reached levels that lead to a public perception that special interests and wealthy individuals may have undue influence on or access to elected officials.

(c) It is the policy of the City to promote and encourage broad-based citizen involvement in the financing of election campaigns.

(d) The City Council further finds that allowing candidates to lend unlimited amounts of their personal funds to their campaigns tends to undermine public confidence in the election process, because the public may perceive that candidates with large outstanding loans will seek contributors to repay their loan after the election, and may be predisposed to favor their post-election contributors.

(e) Protecting public confidence in the political process requires adequate enforcement of the provisions of this article.