HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC RESO 10,043RESOLUTION NO. 10,043
RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS LAW
The City Council of the City of National City does
hereby resolve as follows:
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of National
City finds:
That on September ,-, 1969, the Legislature of the
State of California passed Assembly Bill No. 325 (Chapter 1512)
governing disclosure of assets by public officers.
That said bill provides, in Section 3700, "that every
public officer shall file, as a public record, a statement de-
scribing the nature and extent of his investments, including the
ownership in shares of any corporation or the ownership of a
financial interest in any business entity, which is subject to
regulation by any state or local public agency, if such invest-
ment is in excess of ten -thousand dollars ($1i,Ud0.)O) in value
at the time of the statement.'
That apparently "Public Officer" includes all council-
men, department heads,planning, cultural and forest commissions,
city clerk, city treasurer and many others involved in city
government. Candidates for public office must also disclose
their assets.
That any person who fails to file said statement dis-
closing his assets, with knowledge that said failure is unlawful,
is guilty of a felony. A felony can be punishable by imprison-
ment in the State prison, which suspends the civil rights of the
person so sentenced, forfeiting private trusts, the right to
vote and to hold public office. It also affects and jeopardizes
military service and personal bonding.
WHEREAS, said law is objectionable for the following
reasons:
There are ample provisions under other and existing
laws assuring the public of the impartiality and
honesty of their officials, including numerous con-
flict of interest laws such as Section 1090 of the
Government Code prohibiting public officers from
acting on contracts in which they are beneficially
interested.
2. This law requiring disclosure of assets will not
accomplish any public purpose and will not affect
the integrity, honesty or fairness of public officials.
3. The law wiil restrain citizen -officials from accepting,
seeking or retaining public office.
The law is extremely ambiguous. No one is able to
determine what the phrase "nature and extent of in-
vestments" means, nor can it be determine: which in-
vestments are '"regulated" by public agencies. Further,
it is often impossible to accurately state the exact
value of many types of investments. Faiiure to prop-
erly guess the meaning of this law or the value of an
investment may subject the public officer to felony
penalties.
5. The law is an abhorrent invasion of the personal right
privacy. A citizen's financial affairs should be pri-
vate, and to require complete disclosure penalizes
the office seeker and discourages public service.
Generally, councilmen and commissioners devote untold
hours and effort, at great personal out-of-pocket
expense to serve their community, with no compensation.
Citizens should be encouraged to seek public position,
not discouraged. Some of the most highly qualified
citizens are, understandably, the most financially
successful. To require the citizen to disclose his
holdings would invite unwanted solicitation from
numerous salesmen and intermeddlers, and invite
unwarranted accusations of bias and partiality. The
end result is to penalize those who by acumen and the
intelligent management of their personal incomes have
been able to invest in and support the economic and
cot uercial well-being of their communities.
6. It will be extremely difficult to obtain candidates or
appointees for public office when they are confronted
with the legal requirement of disclosing their finan-
cial affairs to the newspapers and the general public.
WHEREAS, most members of boards and commissions who
have been polled indicate their strong opposition to subjecting
their personal affairs to public scrutiny.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of
the City of National City that on behalf of themselves and those
public officers subject to the provisions of the disclosure of
assets law do hereby urge immediate legislative action to appro-
priately amend the law so as to eliminate its ambiguities and
make it more relevant to the basic questions of ethical behavior
and conflict of interest.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVE➢ that the City Clerk of the City
of National City be, and is hereby authorized and directed to for-
ward a copy of this resolution to the League of California Cities
and to the State Legislators of San Diego County.
PASSE➢ AND ADOPTED this 17th day of February, 1970.
ATTEST: