The Board today certified the third phase of the Doing Business Database (DBDB), as required by Local Law 34 of 2007.
Local Law 34 limits contributions from persons doing business with the City to $400 for citywide offices, $320 for Borough President, and $250 for City Council. Contributions from such persons are no longer eligible to be matched with public funds.
To enforce these doing business limits, the law directs the creation of a database to capture information about all persons or entities doing business with the City. The Board will match information from the DBDB against its own database of contributor information to ensure compliance with these limits. The Board has assisted the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) and the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS) in the development of the DBDB.
Phase 3 covers real property transactions and land use actions.
Based on the data it received and processes it reviewed, the Board verified that the DBDB will be reasonably complete and accurate.
The new restrictions on contributions from contributors doing business with the City will take effect 30 days from today’s certification, December 3, 2008. At that time, the DBDB will cover each of the categories of business dealings required by the law.
The full report can be found here.
The Board also issued an advisory opinion on the implications of term limits on the Campaign Finance Program, addressing questions concerning two groups of candidates in the 2009 elections who may change their plans: current office holders running for a higher office, and candidates who had planned to run for an open seat.
Because they had been campaigning for a higher office, some incumbents who may run for a third term “can access potential war chests of campaign funds that could deter or overwhelm potential challengers in their campaigns for re-election,” said Father Joseph P. Parkes, S.J., Chairman of the Campaign Finance Board in a statement released with the opinion. “The Board’s approach is to attempt to encourage these candidates to limit their spending between now and the election. We believe fairness is better achieved when all candidates operate under the same limits. That is why the Board’s opinion seeks to provide these incumbents with an incentive to join the Program and agree to limit their spending for a re-election campaign.”
The opinion also provides guidance for those active candidates who may choose not to challenge an incumbent. Those candidates may suspend their campaigns until the next election cycle and preserve the efforts they’ve made to qualify for matching funds for a race in 2013.
The full text of the advisory opinion can be found here.
The Board sought comment from affected and interested parties, some of whom helped shape the Board’s opinion. Public comments received by the Board can be viewed here.
The Board also ratified a public funds payment made for the 2008 Fall election in City Council district 30 (Queens). The payments, totaling $57,391, were authorized by Board Chair Fr. Joseph P. Parkes, S.J. and disbursed to two candidates.