The San Ramon City Council agreed at its June 9 meeting to increase the voluntary campaign spending limits in this Novembers election.
The voluntary limits will apply to the mayor and two council seats up for election in November.
According to the council agenda: the City established voluntary expenditure limits based on the number of registered voters and anticipated campaign costs, including postage, printing, and outreach. Based off data, the increase was estimated at 25 cents per voter and the recommended expenditure limits are as follows:
- $91,453 for Mayor ($1.75 per registered voter)
- $39,938 for District 2 ($2.75 per registered voter)
- $36,597 for District 4 ($2.75 per registered voter)
Councilmember Marisol Rubio shared at the May 27 Policy Meeting, that they thought it was reasonable to go “one level” above the 2024 election to account for any increase costs with inflation.
“There are inherit costs that inevitably, but we felt that should suffice,” said Rubio.
Mayor Mark Armstrong confirmed these were voluntary expenditure limits and very generous amounts.
“It’s not impossible that someone could get up to that limit, I guess there is some history in the past, but for the most part, most candidates are well below the maximum allowable on this voluntary limit,” said Armstrong.
Rubio added postage had gone up, “but most of us have usually stayed quite a bit below that, but nonetheless we are trying to be consistent with the process we’ve had historical and really just increased it slightly to adjust for inflation which is being felt at every level of our economy.”
Councilmember Richard Adler noted that just because someone spends more money doesn’t mean they will receive more votes.
The council voted 4-0 to pass the resolution increasing the voluntary campaign expenditure limits. Councilmember Robert Jweinat was absent from the meeting.
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