City Expands Politics Ban in City-Funded Space

The San Diego City Council on Monday expanded its ban on political activity by nonprofit organizations operating in city-subsidized office space, but added language that one council member believes will cause further confusion over the regulations.

The council vote broadened prohibitions against political activity by adding campaigning for ballot measures to the ban. In the past, nonprofit groups in city-subsidized space were barred from campaigning for political candidates only.

The new policy is based on the council’s belief that it is not appropriate to use public facilities subsidized by taxpayers’ money for partisan political activity.

Organizations would still be allowed to lobby the council to achieve their goals, and could meet in private facilities to discuss political matters.

Defining Political Activities

The council also added language defining political activities as “activities primarily focused on publicly endorsing or actively campaigning” for or against a candidate or ballot measure.

Councilman Abbe Wolfsheimer, who proposed the new language, said the “primarily focused” phrase will protect organization members’ right to free speech by allowing them to briefly discuss political candidates and measures without fear that they will be violating the policy.

But Councilman Bob Filner, one of two dissenters to the decision, said the new phrase will cause confusion among people attempting to determine what is political activity. The phrase makes the policy “so nebulous that I don’t think an organization or anyone wanting to judge that will know what to do,” Filner said.

The vote ended more than nine months of debate about the policy that began last summer when the San Diego Business Journal accused the city’s Sierra Club chapter of meeting in subsidized space in Balboa Park to review an endorsement made by the organization’s political arm.

The policy would no longer apply to the Sierra Club because the chapter has moved to privately owned quarters in North Park. Other groups that occupy city-subsidized space and have taken positions on past ballot measures include Citizens Coordinate for Century III and some of the cultural institutions in Balboa Park’s core.

About 1,200 nonprofit organizations pay less than fair-market rates to use city-owned space, most of them for social or community meetings.