If you’ve found yourself struggling to wrap your head around campaign finance laws (or have willfully avoided thinking about them), you’re not alone. San Diego’s ordinance might make that even tougher.

“We have a mountain of differences between San Diego law and state law” when it comes to the rules of campaign finances, says longtime political accounting guru April Boling. She’s a special type of certified public accountant, one who also makes time to volunteer her services to the Taxpayers’ Association and the Airport Authority.

She’s worked to help campaigns keep track of their finances, specifically the rules governing how they report them. Boling has worked closely with the city’s Ethics Commission, which has cropped up in the headlines an awful lot lately thanks to some controversial nominees.

Boling joined us on the podcast to talk about the dynamics between commissioners and staff on the Ethics Commission, how recent tweaks to campaign finance rules have changed the political landscape in San Diego and her background in overhauling San Diego’s pension system.

Also on the show: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s tweets about atheism, which caused a stir, county supervisors changing the rules on stadium financing, tough questions in turning around a failing school and why a “zero” is our Hero.

This week’s cool jams: “Let It Happen” by Tame Impala and “Pray for Rain” by Pure Bathing Culture.

Don’t forget to reserve your spot for our last live podcast of the summer, coming up Thursday, Aug. 13, at 6 p.m. at Thorn Street Brewery. Gonzalez is our special guest this time around – get excited.

Listen to the podcast here, on Stitcher or on iTunes.

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Catherine Green was formerly the deputy editor at Voice of San Diego. She handled daily operations while helping to plan new long-term projects.

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