Culver City : Political Donation Rules

Contractors doing business with the Culver City government will be barred from contributing to local political campaigns under new city campaign guidelines approved Monday by the Culver City Council.

The Council voted unanimously to give initial approval to an ordinance that, among other things, would: limit to $500 contributions by an individual to a political campaign committee; limit to $1,000 contributions from one committee to another, and bar donations from contractors who have done $25,000 worth of business with the city within the past year.

Candidates found guilty of knowingly or intentionally violating the ordinance will be disqualified from election or removed from office, unless the court determines that another punishment would be more just.

Currently, the only campaign guidelines are that candidates report all donations of $50 or more and that literature distributed door-to-door be printed with the name of the sponsoring committee, according to City Atty. Joseph Pannone.

If adopted next week, the new guidelines would go into effect in early January, Pannone said.