US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

 
    §  3-708  Campaign finance board. 1. There shall be a campaign finance
  board consisting of five members. Two members  of  the  board  shall  be
  appointed  by  the  mayor,  provided  that not more than one such member
  shall be enrolled in any one political party, and two members  shall  be
  appointed by the speaker of the council, provided that not more than one
  such  member  shall  be  enrolled  in  any  one political party, and one
  member, who shall be the chairperson, shall be appointed  by  the  mayor
  after  consultation  with  the  speaker.  The  members  shall  first  be
  appointed to serve as follows:
    (a) one member appointed by the speaker for a term of one year;
    (b) one member appointed by the mayor for a term of two years;
    (c) one member appointed by the speaker for a term of three years;
    (d) one member appointed by the mayor for a term of four years; and
    (e) the chairperson for a term of five years.
  Each term shall commence on April first, nineteen hundred  eighty-eight.
  Thereafter,  each  member shall be appointed for a term of five years by
  the  mayor  or  the  speaker,  according  to  the  original  manner   of
  appointment.  In  case  of a vacancy in the office of a member, a member
  shall be appointed to serve for the remainder of the unexpired  term  by
  the   mayor  or  the  speaker,  according  to  the  original  manner  of
  appointment. In the case of a vacancy in the  office  of  a  member  for
  which  a  member  is holding over after expiration of the term for which
  the member was appointed, an appointment to such office made after  June
  1  in  a  year  in  which covered elections are scheduled shall not take
  effect prior to December 1 of that calendar year. Each member shall be a
  resident of the city, registered to  vote  therein.  Each  member  shall
  agree  not  to  make  contributions  to any candidate for nomination for
  election,  or  election,  to  the  office  of  mayor,  public  advocate,
  comptroller,  borough  president  or  member of the council which in the
  aggregate are in excess of the maximum contribution applicable  to  such
  office pursuant to paragraph (f) of subdivision one of section 3-703. No
  member  shall serve as an officer of a political party or be a candidate
  or participate in  any  capacity  in  a  campaign  by  a  candidate  for
  nomination  for  election  or  election  to  the office of mayor, public
  advocate, comptroller, borough president or member of the city  council.
  Officers  and  employees  of  the  city  or  any  city agency, lobbyists
  required to file a statement of registration under section 3-213 and the
  employees of such lobbyists shall not be eligible to be members  of  the
  board.
    2.  The  members  of the board shall be compensated at the rate of one
  hundred dollars per calendar day when performing the work of the board.
    3. The board  may  employ  necessary  staff,  including  an  executive
  director  and  a  counsel,  and  make  necessary expenditures subject to
  appropriation.  The board may employ such  staff,  including  legal  and
  accounting staff, as are necessary for providing technical assistance to
  candidates  and  prospective  candidates  in  covered elections, for the
  purpose of promoting understanding of, participation in, and  compliance
  with the requirements of the provisions of this chapter.
    4.  No  member  of  the  campaign  finance board shall be removed from
  office except for cause and upon notice and hearing.
    5. The board shall have the power to investigate all matters  relating
  to the performance of its functions and any other matter relating to the
  proper  administration  of this chapter and for such purposes shall have
  the power to require the attendance and examine and take  the  testimony
  under oath of such persons as it shall deem necessary and to require the
  production  of  books,  accounts,  papers and other evidence relative to
  such investigation.

    6. The board shall publicize, as it deems appropriate,  the  names  of
  candidates  for  nomination  or election to the offices of mayor, public
  advocate, comptroller, borough president, or city  council  who  violate
  any of the provisions of this chapter.
    7.  (a)  The  board  shall  render  advisory  opinions with respect to
  questions arising under this chapter  upon  the  written  request  of  a
  candidate,  an officer of a political committee or member of the public,
  or upon its own initiative. The board shall promulgate  rules  regarding
  reasonable  times  to  respond  to  such  requests. The board shall make
  public the questions of interpretation for which advisory opinions  will
  be  considered  by  the  board  and  its advisory opinions, including by
  publication on its internet website.
    (b) The board shall develop a program for informing candidates and the
  public as to the purpose and effect of the provisions of  this  chapter.
  The  board  shall  prepare  and  make  available  educational materials,
  including compliance manuals  and  summaries  and  explanations  of  the
  purposes  and  provisions  of  this  chapter.  These  materials shall be
  prepared in plain language. The board shall prepare and  make  available
  materials,  including,  to  the  extent  feasible, computer software, to
  facilitate the task of compliance with the disclosure and record-keeping
  requirements of this chapter. When disclosure reports are  generated  by
  use  of  the  board's  disclosure  software,  the board shall provide an
  opportunity for candidates to test their electronic filings  on  any  of
  the  three  business  days  prior to the deadline for the filing of such
  disclosure reports.
    8. The board shall have the authority to  promulgate  such  rules  and
  regulations  and  provide  such  forms  as  it  deems  necessary for the
  administration of this chapter. The board shall  promulgate  regulations
  concerning  the  form  in which contributions and expenditures are to be
  reported, the periods during which such reports must be  filed  and  the
  verification  required. The board shall require the filing of reports of
  contributions and expenditures for purposes  of  determining  compliance
  with  paragraph  (f) of subdivision one of section 3-703, section 3-706,
  and section 3-718, and section 3-719, in accordance  with  the  schedule
  specified  by  the  state  board of elections for the filing of campaign
  receipt and expenditure statements.
    9. The board shall develop a computer data base that shall contain all
  information necessary for the  proper  administration  of  this  chapter
  including information on contributions to and expenditures by candidates
  and  their  authorized  committees  and distributions of moneys from the
  campaign finance fund. Such data base shall be accessible to the public.
    10. The board  shall  have  the  authority  to  implement  any  system
  established  for the regulation of inauguration and transition donations
  and expenditures including the promulgation of rules and regulations and
  the imposition of any penalties related thereto, as  required  by  local
  law. The specific powers enumerated in subdivisions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11
  of  this section, for purposes of this chapter, shall also be applicable
  in full for purposes of such chapter 8.
    11. The board may take such other actions as are necessary and  proper
  to carry out the purposes of this chapter.