March 2026 | Vol. 26 Iss. 3
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Sandy
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Consolidating schools
CSD board hoping for decision by early May Page 9
Leading Utah cities
How female elected officials are becoming the norm Page 24
Proposal to limit campaign contributions gets pushback from Sandy City leaders By Giovanni Radtke | g.radtke@mycityjournals.com If passed, campaign contributions in Sandy municipal elections would be capped at $2,500, and donors would be required to provide a financial disclosure statement.
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roposals to limit campaign contributions in Sandy elections and add more financial transparency requirements for donors sparked strong disagreement among city leaders. The proposed election rule changes were prompted by a memo from Councilmember at-large Aaron Dekeyzer, sent to the Sandy City Council on Jan. 20. “To me, the core of this is about transparency and public confidence and the integrity of our municipal elections,” Dekeyzer told the council while introducing his proposals. “... when a small number of donors can contribute such disproportionately large sums of money to influence elections, those voices end up carrying far more weight than those of typical residents who are concerned about a much broader set of topics.”
If passed, donations to a candidate’s campaign from any individual or organization would be capped at $2,500, but there would be no limit on candidates’ self-financing their election run. The measures would also outlaw anonymous contributions, requiring every donor to provide their full name, address and a financial disclosure statement with their campaign offering. Utah already has laws requiring individual donors to report their financial information. However, Dekeyzer noted that political parties are exempt from the requirement. “And there are other exemptions that result in … expenditures that support municipal candidates without any election-specific disclosure to the voters of Sandy City, which creates a transparency and accountability gap that prevents residents from understanding who is spending money to influence the people who are elected to represent them,” the councilmember said. Still, some of Dekeyzer’s colleagues believe state code provides enough transparency. “I don’t believe that a transparency gap exists. I think there is plenty of transparency,” said
Councilmember Marci Houseman. “What we would in effect do is ask people to have a second filing system, which creates more work.” Councilmember at-large Brooke D’Sousa echoed Houseman’s viewpoint. The councilmember doesn’t think there is a lack of transparency in campaign finance reporting, but that Sandy voters may have difficulty accessing the information. D’Sousa suggested officials create a “transparency hub” on the city’s website, where all the links to financial disclosures can be found. Some city lawmakers also thought that capping campaign donations at $2,500 would make municipal elections less transparent, as donors could exploit legal loopholes. “If someone wants to give you $4,000, then they will give $2,500 in their name and then $1,500 in their wife’s name,” Councilmember Alison Stroud said. Along with possibly making financial disclosures less transparent, city officials also said the donation cap could give an edge to candidates who can self-finance their campaigns. “I think anytime we are limiting the
Voter ballot drop box in Salt Lake County.
continued page 6 (Giovanni Radtke/City Journals)
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