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<br />8A <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />The Homeowners Protection Act <br /> <br />The league is part of a coalition supporting the Homeowners Protection Act to place it on the <br />June 2008 ballot. The coalition includes homeowners, labor, business, environmental groups, <br />seniors and local government The Homeowners Protection Act offers real eminent domain <br />reform by prohibiting state and local governments from using eminent domain to secure a home <br />to transfer to a private developer. <br /> <br />Working on a Ballot Measure Campaign: Important Do's and Don'ts for City <br />Officials and City Employees <br /> <br />There are two simple, but very important rules city officials and employees should follow if they <br />want to get involved in campaign activities in support of the Homeowners Protection Act and to <br />defeat the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA): <br /> <br />1. Don't use public funds. All contributions to the campaign of your time and resources <br />must be made with non-public funds. That meanS no public facilities or equipment <br />(phones, computers, e-mail accounts, vehicles, copy machines or any other equipment) <br />may be used to plan or promote ballot measure activities, including fundraising. No <br />public funds may be used in support of your campaign activities. <br /> <br />2. Campaign on your own time and keep good records. Track your time and your use of <br />private equipment used in ballot measure activities, so you are able to document that no <br />public funds were used. <br /> <br />The Do's: City officials and city employees MAY: <br /> <br />. Work On the campaign during their personal time, including lunch hours, coffee breaks, <br />vacations, etc. <br />. Make a campaign contribution to a ballot measure campaign committee using personal <br />funds, and/or attend a campaign fundraiser during personal time. <br />. Help gather signatures for an initiative during personal time. <br />. Make public appearances during personal time advocating the ballot measure. <br />. Have the city council adopt a resolution at a public meeting that officially endorses or <br />opposes a ballot measure and confirms the prohibition on using government funds for <br />political purposes. <br /> <br />The Don'ts. City officials and city employees may NOT: <br /> <br />. Distribute campaign literature through the city's internal mail system. <br />. Place campaign literature on employee bulletin boards, on the city's Web site, or elsewhere <br />on city government premises. <br />. Make public appearances speaking in favor of the ballot measure during compensated work <br />hours. <br />· Make telephone calls about the campaign during compensated work hours. <br />. Walk precincts, draft campaign ads, or perform other campaign tasks during compensated <br />work hours, or assign subordinates to do same. <br />· Add a link from the city Web site to a campaign Web site. <br />. Send or receive campaign-related e-mails on city computers. <br />. Urge other city employees to vote for the measure during compensated work hours. <br />· Use city copy machines, telephones, fax machines, computers, stationery, etc. for campaign <br />purposes. <br /> <br />Additional Information <br /> <br />A good rule of thumb is to check with your city attorney if you are not sure what you can do as a <br />city official or city staff involved in a campaign. <br /> <br />3 <br />