Fair Political Practices Commission Ticket Reporting

The State of California's Fair Political Practices Commission instituted a new regulation effective February 7, 2009 as outlined in Section 18944.1 defining how a public agency may distribute event tickets and passes for a public purpose. To do so require that the City adopt a ticket policy that contains, at a minimum, the following:

1. A provision setting forth the governmental purposes of the City to be accomplished by the distribution of event passes or tickets;
2. A provision requiring that the distribution of any ticket or pass by the City to, or at the behest of, a City official accomplish a public purpose of the City; and
3. A provision prohibiting the transfer by any City official of any ticket or pass, distributed to such official pursuant to the City policy, to any other person, other than members of the official's immediate family solely for their personal use.

In order to fully implement the requirements of the new regulation, the City Council adopted the Policy on Distribution, Use, and Reporting of Passes and Tickets. In addition to including the provisions outlined above, the policy acknowledges the obligation imposed by the new regulation that the City post certain information regarding the distribution of tickets and passes prominently on the City website.

For questions related to this new regulation, you may wish to contact the FPPC directly at their toll-free number: 1-866-ASK-FPPC (1-866-275-3772) or write to the FPPC at 428 J Street, Suite 620, Sacramento, CA 95814 or on the internet: www.FPPC.ca.gov.