Stanton Seeks a TIN CUP Alert System for Supervisors’ Votes

Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton on Tuesday asked the county counsel’s office to put every opinion it issues on application of the so-called TIN CUP political contribution law in writing and to warn supervisors about pending votes that might trigger the law.

The TIN CUP (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) ordinance prohibits supervisors from voting on measures affecting contributors who have given more than $1,704 to their campaigns over a four-year period.

“Since the county counsel is the attorney for the board, then perhaps he could explore the possibility of a monitoring process being set up,” Stanton said. “This is a problem all members of the board face when they’re involved in fund raising.”

Stanton said his concern stemmed from a controversy caused when he voted July 8 to endorse a request from the Baldwin Co. dealing with its effort to transfer property to a new water district.

Didn’t Violate Ordinance

He said later that he had not been aware that Baldwin had exceeded TIN CUP contribution limits. In all, the company had contributed $2,300 to Stanton over the previous four years.

Because Stanton was unaware the limit had been exceeded, County Counsel Adrian Kuyper said, the supervisor did not violate the ordinance.

But Stanton said Tuesday that he was still concerned because media coverage of the incident made it appear he was at fault.

“Even though you are careful, there’s a misperception,” Stanton said. “I got two sensationalized headline writers that totally twisted and distorted that” incident.

Stanton asked the county counsel to monitor measures coming before the board that might involve TIN CUP limits to prevent supervisors from unknowingly casting votes for major campaign contributors. And he wanted the counsel’s opinions in writing so they could be quoted.

A Monumental Task

Kuyper said that would be a monumental task that would overburden his staff by requiring it to research the impact of each vote. Some votes do not trigger the TIN CUP ordinance because they do not directly benefit any contributor.

“It would be very difficult for my office to know the ramifications of each and every agenda item on campaign contributors,” Kuyper said. “We certainly will respond to a particular question.”

Following the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday, Kuyper said he will instruct his deputies to put their opinions on the TIN CUP rules in writing.

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder also suggested that the supervisors might work more closely with the county registrar of voters office, which keeps records of campaign contributions. And she said contributors could help in monitoring their own donations.

“They are very, very sophisticated about that because . . . they don’t want to be put in the untenable position of not having a vote if they need a vote,” she said.