Five of the 18 cities in San Diego County received a D grade or lower when it comes to municipal campaign-finance reporting, a new study has found.
According to Citizens Take Action, a group committed to civic engagement and getting large donations out of politics, the cities of El Cajon, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa and Oceanside all scored poorly when it comes to regulating local elections.
El Cajon received the only F grade in the analysis, which is titled “Integrity in San Diego Local Government: A Report Card on Campaign Finance Laws and Transparency for Cities in San Diego County.”
Imperial Beach was assigned a D-minus, and the other three cities each scored Ds.
Eleven cities received the highest scores — As, A-minuses or even A-pluses. Those included Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, Encinitas, National City, Poway, San Diego, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach and Vista.
Two cities, Carlsbad and Lemon Grove, were awarded straight B grades.
The report card was released Wednesday, along with recommendations aimed at improving cities’ individual performances.
The grades were calculated by examining contribution bans and limits, fundraising windows, whether election filings are posted online, how easily they can be accessed and for how long.
“Cities scored lower, on average, for the thoroughness of the campaign finance data available on their official website,” the report stated. “While nine of 18 published forms dating back at least four election cycles, the other half of cities had less data, with some cities only posting forms dating back to the 2022 election.”
Citizens Take Action is a Long Beach-based nonprofit that aims to promote transparency in election spending. It was founded by David Edward Burke, an attorney, elected official and activist.
Burke, who was elected late last year to the city council in the Orange County city of Cypress, said it was important for voters to understand how even small-town officials secure the money they need to win a campaign.
“The amount of influence that powerful interests like developers, unions or trash haulers have over government directly impacts the quality of life for residents,” he said. “We created this report card to make it easy for residents to see what safeguards their city has in place to prevent powerful interests from exerting undue influence over their local government.”
The findings were not entirely welcome among leaders of the poorer-performing cities.
El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell said his government meets all state and federal campaign rules. He also noted that no one from the organization contacted his city before the report was released.
“The city complies with all reporting and campaign financing laws,” Mitchell said. “If the state determines that it is in the best interest of the public to change the law, the city of El Cajon will comply.”
Months before Imperial Beach received its D-minus grade, the city council agreed to create an ad hoc review of local campaign contribution limits, the city’s chief administrative officer said.
“The ad hoc committee has been holding public outreach meetings to consider drafting an ordinance for city council consideration no later than January 2024,” Erika N. Cortez-Martinez said in an email.
None of the other cities singled out for poor grades in the Citizens Take Action report card responded to requests for comment.
Officials from top-graded cities including San Diego, Vista and San Marcos also declined to discuss the findings.
Poway, which received an A- grade in the report, said it was grateful for the scrutiny — and suggestions for improvement,
“The city of Poway appreciates the recognition that we received for our municipal campaign finance reporting, as well as the recommendations regarding campaign finance transparency,” community outreach coordinator Rene Carmichael said by email.
“We are evaluating what changes we can make to better serve our Poway residents.” she added.
The report card on San Diego County cities follows a similar review published last year related to municipal campaign financing in Orange County. Nineteen of the 34 cities in Orange County received a D grade or lower in that 2022 analysis.
Both analyses assigned between 10 and 20 points in each of seven categories.
Cities were awarded up to 20 points for having adopted contribution limits for candidates and political action committees. They also received up to 20 points for limiting or banning donations from developers and contractors.
The cities also were allotted up to 10 points each for limiting the fundraising window for candidates, making election filings available online, the ease of accessing those required filings and the number of years for which those election filings were posted.
A grades began at 80 points, with A-pluses requiring 95 points or higher; Bs were awarded for scores between 60 and 79 points; cities scoring between 40 and 59 received Cs; D grades were awarded for scores of 20 to 39; and cities with 19 points or fewer were given Fs.
“One city official accused our report of being biased, but the grades we gave are based on the same criteria for every city,” Burke said. “And thinking there is too much money in politics or too little transparency isn’t a bias. It’s a valid perspective that is shared by the vast majority of Americans.”
The Citizens Take Action founder said his findings have prompted both voters and politicians to think more about the way people win elective office.
“My favorite response was from an elected official who initially bristled at his city’s grade,” Burke said. “But after reading the report and considering the money spent in their recent election (he) told me, ‘I have to admit, you’ve got a point.’”
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