Two Council Members May Get More Time to Pay Campaign Debts
Two City Council members who both racked up at least $40,000 in bills during the 1996 election campaign may get additional time to raise money to pay off the debts.
The council last week voted 4 to 1 to have City Atty. Terry Dixon to look into amending the city’s campaign contribution law to give all 1996 candidates another year to raise funds to help pay off election debts.
Proposition 208, the state campaign limits measure, superseded the Laguna Niguel ordinance in 1996. The proposition’s passage lowered the amount of individual contributions to candidates from the $350 allowed by the city to $100.
However, the courts threw out the proposition Jan. 6, putting the city’s ordinance back into effect.
That ordinance has a one-year deadline to retire campaign debt. For 1996 candidates, that deadline expired Dec. 31, meaning that those with outstanding debt lost a year of collecting contributions at the higher $350 limit.
Mayor Linda Lindholm and Councilwoman Mimi Krogius Walters say they both still have about $40,000 in debt remaining from their election bids.
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