SEC. 1.140. ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE PUBLIC FINANCING.

(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL CANDIDATES. To be eligible to receive public financing of campaign expenses under this Chapter, a candidate must:

(1) Have filed a statement indicating that he or she intends to participate in the public financing program under Section 1.142 of this Chapter.

(2) Agree to the following conditions:

(A) The candidate bears the burden of providing that each contribution the candidate relies upon to establish eligibility is a qualifying contribution;

(B) The candidate bears the burden of proving that expenditures made with public funds provided under this Chapter comply with Section 1.148 of this Chapter;

(C) The candidate will not make any payments to a contractor or vendor in return for the contractor or vendor making a campaign contribution to the candidate or make more than a total of 50 payments, other than the return of a contribution, to contractors or vendor that have made contributions to the candidate;

(D) Notwithstanding Sections 1.114 and 1.116, the candidate shall not loan or donate, in total, more than $5,000 of his or her own money to the campaign;

(E) The candidate shall not accept any loans to his or her campaign with the exception of a candidate's loan to his or her own campaign as permitted by this Section; and

(F) The candidate shall agree to participate in at least three debates with the candidate's opponents.

(3) Have paid any outstanding late fines or penalties, owed to the City by the candidate or any of the candidate's previous campaign committees, which were imposed for violations of this Code or the campaign finance provisions of the California Political Reform Act (Government Code Sections 84100-85704), provided that the Ethics Commission had notified the candidate of such fines or penalties by the time of certification.

(4) Have filed any outstanding forms, owed to the City by the candidate or any of the candidate's previous campaign committees, which were required to be filed pursuant to this Code or the campaign finance provisions of the Political Reform Act (Government Code Sections 84100-85704), provided that the Ethics Commission had notified the candidate of such outstanding forms by the time of certification.

(5) Have no finding by a court or by the Ethics Commission after a hearing on the merits, within the prior five years, that the candidate knowingly, willfully, or intentionally violated any Section of this Code or the campaign finance provisions of this California Political Reform Act (Government Code Sections 84100-85704). For purposes of this Section, a plea of nolo contendere constitutes a finding by a court of a willful violation.

(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES FOR THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. To be eligible to receive public financing of campaign expenses under this Chapter, a candidate for the Board of Supervisors must:

(1) Be seeking election to the Board of Supervisors and be eligible to hold the office sought;

(2) Have a candidate committee that has received at least $10,000 in qualifying contributions from at least 100 contributors by the 70th day before the election; or, if the candidate is an incumbent member of the Board of Supervisors, have a candidate committee that has received at least $15,000 in qualifying contributions from at least 150 contributors by the 70th day before the election;

(3) Be opposed by another candidate who has either established eligibility to receive public financing, or whose candidate committee has received contributions or made expenditures which in the aggregate equal or exceed $10,000; and

(4) Agree that his or her candidate committee will not make qualified campaign expenditures that total more than the candidate’s Individual Expenditure Ceiling of $350,000, or as adjusted under Section 1.143 of this Chapter.

(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR. To be eligible to receive public financing of campaign expenses under this Chapter, a candidate for Mayor must:

(1) Be seeking election to the office of Mayor and be eligible to hold the office sought;

(2) Have a candidate committee that has received at least $50,000 in qualifying contributions from at least 500 contributors by the 70th day before the election; or, if the candidate is the incumbent Mayor, have a candidate committee that has received at least $75,000 in qualifying contributions from at least 750 contributors by the 70th day before the election;

(3) Be opposed by another candidate who has either established eligibility to receive public financing, or whose candidate committee has received contributions or made expenditures that in the aggregate equal or exceed $50,000; and

(4) Agree that his or her candidate committee will not make qualified campaign expenditures that total more than the candidate’s Individual Expenditure Ceiling of $1,700,000, or as adjusted under Section 1.143 of this Chapter.

(d) ADJUSTMENT OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS AND THRESHOLDS. The Ethics Commission is authorized to adjust:

(1) The figures in Subsections (b)(4) and (c)(4) to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $1,000 for candidates for the Board of Supervisors and the nearest $5,000 for candidates for Mayor;

(2) The figure in Subsection (a)(2)(D) of this Section to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $1,000;

(3) The figures in Subsections (b)(2) and (b)(3) of this Section to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $500;

(4) The figures in Subsections (c)(2) and (c)(3) of this Section to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $5,000; and

(5) The maximum amount of a contribution that constitutes a qualifying contribution pursuant to Section 1.104 to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $10.