The city of Colorado Springs is considering changes to campaign finance rules in a bid to avoid a repeat of the confusion and complaints that muddled the 2011 municipal election.

Proposed changes cover everything from the city clerk’s responsibilities to timelines for hearing complaints. The proposal also specifies that candidates are free to accept corporate contributions, an issue that rocked the mayoral runoff between winner Steve Bach and Richard Skorman last year.

“This is our opportunity to really take a hard look at the code and try to not only simplify it for future campaigns, but also try to avoid any problems like we experienced in the last election,” City Council President Pro Tem Jan Martin said at a recent work session to vet the proposed changes.

The council will discuss the proposal Monday and then vote on it on first reading Tuesday.

On Monday, the council will also consider options for proposed oil and gas regulations, which were developed by the Planning Department and then approved by the Planning Commission on a 7-1 vote in August.

The options the council will discuss pertain to air and water quality, setbacks and the location of oil and gas operations in residential areas, among others.

An update of capital projects funded by the Public Safety Sales Tax is also on Monday’s agenda.

The campaign finance changes and proposed oil and gas regulations are likely to dominate the meeting. Both have been in the works for months.

Council members spent more than an hour recently going over the campaign finance changes.

Under the proposal, the city clerk will “use his or her best efforts” to review campaign forms within 48 hours of receipt and determine whether there is a violation. Anyone can also file a complaint, though it must be signed.

The proposal spells out a timeline for the city clerk to issue an “order to show cause or to cure” if a possible violation exists and for a hearing officer to consider the matter if it goes unresolved.

“We are trying to strike a balance between respecting the fact that the city clerk will be running an election during this time. She and her office will have a lot to do,” City Attorney Chris Melcher said at the recent work session. “But at the same time … we need to try to resolve complaints as quickly as possible.”

The proposal includes the campaign finance forms that candidates will be required to fill out. During the last city election, candidates used different forms, some of which didn’t include a place for them to identify their contributors’ employers — something that’s fixed with the new form.