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Title:
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Consideration of Citizen Petition Related to Financial Disclosure Requirements and Communications of Phoenix City Council on Devices
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Title
Consideration of Citizen Petition Related to Financial Disclosure Requirements and Communications of Phoenix City Council on Devices
Description
This report provides the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee with information in response to a citizen petition submitted by Ms. Abbie Miller at the April 15, 2020, Formal City Council meeting regarding financial disclosure requirements and communications of the Phoenix City Council on devices (Attachment A).
THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
Report
Summary
The petitioner requests that the City Council take each of the following actions:
Phoenix City Council Members and/or their spouses or household members must have the City Clerk publicly post any and all funds received from unions, nonprofits, and any other potential conflicts.
Phoenix City Council Members publicly disclose the specific amount of money and/or benefits they, their spouse or family members have received from unions, nonprofits, or other potential conflicts since 2015.
Ensure all council members official conversations and communications are handled on official and not personal devices.
For requests one and two, many of these funds, money, or benefits are already disclosed by elected officials on a yearly basis as part of their Annual Financial Disclosure Statement documentation. Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) section 18-444 and Phoenix City Code section 12-140 requires that elected officials disclose sources of compensation, benefits, real property interests, debts and gifts, among other items on a yearly basis. The Financial Disclosure Statements are filed with the City Clerk by elected officials by the end of January each year. The Statements are posted to the City’s website for public viewing and retained for three years after the last term of office served per the City’s retention schedules.
Additionally, other financial information related to who contributed to a candidate’s campaign committee may be found in campaign finance reports. Pursuant to A.R.S. section 16-927, candidate committees are required to file quarterly campaign finance reports during the four calendar quarters covering the 12-month period preceding the 2nd (Runoff) election for the office for which the candidate is seeking election. These reports are filed using an online database and made available to the public upon filing. In compliance with the applicable City retention schedule, these reports are retained for three years after the last term of office served.
Therefore, staff believes the disclosures requested are already covered by the legally required filing of the Annual Financial Disclosure Statements and campaign finance reports for City Council members. Additionally, under applicable State law, candidates are prohibited from accepting contributions from labor organizations, and the Internal Revenue Code prohibits 501(c)(3) organizations from directly or indirectly participating in any candidate political campaign.
The third request requires that all official conversations and communications by elected officials be handled on City-owned devices and not on personal devices. However, all official communications and conversations conducted by a Council Member on their City-owned or personal device already constitute a public record that may be subject to possible disclosure.
Based on the information described above, staff respectfully requests the Land Use and Livability Subcommittee recommend that each of the three requests identified in the citizen petition be denied because the items requested are either already required, subject to disclosure, or prohibited.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Toni Maccarone and the City Clerk Department.