The Gold Coast, Ipswich and Moreton Bay councils have all come under the CCC spotlight as the commission investigates allegations of wrongdoing by candidates in the 2016 local government election.

Speaking after his appearance before CCC commissioner Alan MacSporran, Cr Tate told reporters such a cap on donations and campaign expenditure would go a long way to clearing up the public perception of councillors beholden to donors.

"It's only natural to think that (councillors will be beholden to their donors)," he said.

"If you've got a big whack of money from someone, you kind of feel some soft spot for them, don't you?

"But for me, as I said, our donation is my wife and I, so I have a big soft spot for my wife, Ruth."

Cr Tate said he largely self-funded his campaign, which cost him an estimated $180,000.

While some of his colleagues have come under fire for donations from third parties, in particular developers, Cr Tate said people or companies should maintain their right to support candidates.

"What I'm saying is support should be capped so they don't feel beholden to anybody in particular," he said.

"Today I recommended a cap of $5000, which is fair enough."

Last week, Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale suggested local government election campaigns be publicly funded, similarly to both state and federal campaigns.

Cr Tate disagreed.

"I think my idea's better," he said.

During his appearance before the commission, Cr Tate was asked about his campaign bank account.

Candidates are required by law to have a separate account dedicated to campaign activity, but Cr Tate conceded he used his personal account to pay campaign costs, which he said were all documented and declared.

Cr Tate said the intent of the law, as he saw it, was about delivering transparency to voters, which he believed he did "100 per cent", but conceded he did not act within the rules.

"On our personal account, my view is Ruth and I are not third party, so to move the money from there into the mayoral account to spend it out of there, didn't serve any additional transparency in my opinion," he said.

"But I know that now and I take it as read that in a future campaign I would do it differently."

Earlier, Gold Coast deputy mayor Donna Gates told the commission she had voted on development applications in the council chamber that were put forward by her donors.

Cr Gates received $173,973 from donors for her 2016, despite eventually running for Division 1 unopposed.

The commission heard the bulk of that money was raised during two race days, held in 2014 and 2015.

Cr Gates conceded it was "possible" people might perceive a conflict of interest if she voted for applications that concerned her donors, but maintained she had declared all conflicts and had acted with integrity.

If council business concerned an application from a donor, Cr Gates said she made a "declaration of the possibility of a perceived conflict" at the council meeting.

"I have, in the main, stayed in the room to vote in the public interest, because I firmly believe that's what I need to do," she said.

Counsel assisting the commission Glen Rice, QC, asked Cr Gates: "Does making a donation supporting you at race days improve a donor's prospects of access to you?"

"No," Cr Gates replied, "but in all honestly I would just make my day either start earlier or finish later to try and make myself available if it was something that I could assist them with.

"On occasions they might make contact with me and if I knew the substance of the reason for the meeting, I might decline it."

Mr Rice: "Do you feel, having received money by way of support at your fundraising functions, that when a donor seeks to consult you about something that you have some obligation to make time available to the donor?"

Cr Gates: "I don't feel an obligation specifically in that regard. I feel an obligation in terms of being a local government representative. I don't always agree with what's put in front of me; I'm totally impartial in terms of my representation other than getting the best outcome possible."

Gold Coast Division 3 councillor Cameron Caldwell also appeared on Wednesday and told the commission that he, too, had voted on matters concerning a donor who gave him a $2000 contribution.

But Cr Caldwell, who was also the city's planning chairman, said he made the donation known at the meetings in question and thought it "in the public interest" that his division's electors be represented in the vote.

"I made the declaration and that's where my responsibility begins and ends," he said.

"I believe that's a fairly transparent way of dealing with the matter and then others can judge as to whether they feel that's appropriate, I guess."

Cr Caldwell, who was disendorsed as the Liberal National Party's candidate for Broadwater ahead of the 2012 state election after it emerged he and his wife had frequented a swingers' club, said he remained a member of the party.

Like other LNP-affiliated Gold Coast City Council candidates, Cr Caldwell said he enlisted the services of lobbyist and former Tony Abbott staffer Simone Holzapfel during the 2016 campaign.

The hearing continues on Thursday, with Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam, Springfield Land Corporation deputy chairman Bob Sharpless and developer Robert Comiskey all set to be called as witnesses.