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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.1 Term Limits Councilmembers and Mayor . .;; ",,'. .;. .:. ... :. """ CITY CLERK File # ~~[Z][Q]-~~ AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: MAY 28, 1996 SUBJECT: Term Limits (Report prepared by Elizabeth Silver, City Attorney & Kay Keck, City Clerk) '" .' , 1. Draft Ordinance 2. Agenda Statement (April 23, 1996) 3. Agenda Statement (May 14,1996) RECOMMENDATION(l;l Consider motion to approve language for proposed ordinance imposing term limits for Mayor and Councilmembers EXHIBITS: FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Minor costs to City if a Council-sponsored initiative were placed on the November 1996 ballot to approve term limits DESCRIPTION: At the April 23 and May 14 Council meetings, the Council considered whether to place an initiative measure on the ballot to impose term limits for the offices of Mayor and Councilmember as authorized by Government Code section 36502. Upon motion by Mayor Houston, the Council directed the City Attorney to prepare the language for a ballot initiative which would limit Councilmembers and the Mayor to eight consecutive years in office. The measure would not prevent persons from serving as Councilmembers or the Mayor after a lapse of at least one term. The measure would define a "term" as two years and a day for Councilmember and one year and a day for Mayor. The language for an initiative ordinance is set forth in Exhibit 1. The proposed initiative would add Section 2.08.050 to the Dublin Municipal Code. Because Government Code section 36502 authorizes cities to limit the number of terms an individual may serve, the ordinance is written to refer to terms, not to the number of years served. The effect of the ordinance would be to allow the following combinations of terms on the Council: I) Councilmember (4yrs.) --- Councilmember (4yrs.) 2) Mayor (2yrs.) --- Mayor (2yrs.) -- Mayor (2yrs.) --- Mayor (2yrs.) 3) Councilmernber (4yrs.) -- Mayor (2yrs.) -~- Mayor (2yrs.) 4) Mayor (2yrs.) -- Mayor (2yrs.) --~ Councilmember (4yrs.) 5) Mayor (2yrs.) --- Councilmember (4yrs.) --- Mayor (2yrs.) ITEM NO. 1. /__ .. ... A person could serve anyone of these five combinations of office and, after a break in service, could again serve on the Counel for any of the five combinations. .'...., . . These five combinations of terms will result in eight years on the Council, assuming that each term is a full term in office. If an individual serves less than a full term (e.g., is appointed to office of Councilmember and serves in that capacity for one and a half years), that persDfl would not be considered to have served a term and could serve on the Council for~another eight years, making the total time in office nine and one-half consecutive years. In researching the mechanics for placing a Council-sponsored initiative on the ballot, the City Attorney has concluded that the ordinance may not necessarily be applicable to persons elected on November 6, 1996. In accordance with Elections Code section 9217, the ordinance would not be effective until ten days .after the date the vote is declared by the City Council. Government Code section 36502, which authorizes the Council to place the measure on the ballot, provides that any proposal which imposes term limits shall be prospective only. Accordingly, the ordinance (and the limit on the number of terms) will apply to persons who are SWOrn into office after the ordinance becomes effective (i.e., more than ten days following the date the vote is declared by the Council). Thus, if Councilmember A is elected on November 6 and is sworn into office on the date the election results for the initiative are certified, .. she will not be subject to the term limits. However, if Councilmember B is not sworn in until after the ordinance becomes effective (e.g., he is out of town when the Council results are certified), he will be subject to the ordinance's term limits. Prior service on the Council would not count towards the term limits. An ordinance enacted by the people can be amended only by the people unless the initiative ordinance states that it can be amended by the Council. As drafted, the ordinance could only be amended by the people. If the Council wishes to reserve the right to itself to amend the ordinance if it is enacted, language can be added to provide that right. , Staff recommends that the Council consider the draft ordinance (Exhibit I) and take action by motion to direct the City Clerk to return at the Council's first meeting in July with the appropriate resolution submitting the initiative ordinance (Exhibit 1.) to the voters, consolidating the municipal election with the statewide election and taking other actions related thereto, such as ballot arguments and impanial analysis ill provide direction to staff. J :\WPD\MNRSW\114\MI$aAGNDSTMT.TL "e'" .'. . . . . . \. . ORDINANCE NO. ~96 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN **************** AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR TERM LIMITS FOR THE OFFICE OF M.'\, YOR AND COUNCILMEMBER THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Term Limits Section 2.08.050 is added to the Dublin Municipal Code to read as follows: "Section 2.08.050 Term Limits No person shall serve as Councilmember for more than two (2) consecutive terms, nor shall any person serve as Mayor for more than four (4) consecutive terms. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no person who has served as a Councihnember shall serve more than two terms as Mayor if the terms as Councilmember and Mayor are consecutive, nor shall any person who has served as Mayor for two (2) consecutive terms serve more than one succeeding consecutive term as Councilmember. As used herein, a person shall be considered to have served a "term" of office as a Councilmember if such person has served as a Councilmember for two years plus one day and a person shall be considered to have served a "term" of office as Mayor if such person has served as Mayor for one year plus one day." SECTION 2. Effective Date If approved by a maj ority of the voters, this ordinance shall be considered as adopted upon the date that the vote is declared by the City Council and shall go into effect ten days after that date as provided in Elections Code Section 9217. SECTION 3. Posting The CiTY Clerk of the City of Dublin shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City of Dublin in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California. APPROVED by the following vote of the people on November 6, 1996: EXHIBIT 1 ... ADOPT~~9~~.Declaration of the vote by the City Council of the City of Dublin on . EFFECTIVE on AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: CITY CLERK .1996. ..~ \. J:\WPD\MNRSW\114\ORD\TERMLIM.W61 MAYOR .. .. . (;11 Y L;Lt=HK File # D~[2J~-[g][QJ . AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: April 23, 1996 SUBJECT: Term Limits for Councilmembers and/or Mayor (Report Prepared by Elizabeth Silver, City Attorney & Kay Keck, City Clerk) .. EXffiBITS ATTACHED: Government Code Section 36502 RECOMMENDATION: y/'JC7 Receive report and provide appropriate direction to Staff FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Minor costs to City if a Council-sponsored initiative were placed on November 1996 ballot to approve term limits DESCRIPTION: During the City Council's 1996 Goals & Objectives meeting, the COlll1cil requested Staff to prepare a report on COlll1cil term limits. .: Until January 1 ofthis year, a general law city such as Dublin, has not been able to enact term limits for its councilmembers or mayor. (Polis v. City of La Palma (1992) 10 Cal.AppAth 25, 12 Cal.Rptr. 2d 322.) SB 2 (Kopp) was enacted during 1995 and signed into law by the Governor. It became effective January I, 1996. SB 2 (Chapter 432, Statutes 1995) amended Govermnent Code Section 36502 to authorize the City COlll1cil or residents of the city to propose, by initiative, an ordinance limiting the number of terms a member of the COlll1cil may serve or the number of terms an elected Mayor may serve. Both a COlll1cil-sponsored initiative and a citizen-sponsored initiative must be approved by the majority of the voters voting to be effective and shall be effective prospectively only. The Council may place a Council-sponsored initiative on the ballot by resolution. The resolution would need to be adopted no later than July 23 in order to allow sufficient time for the City Clerk to submit the appropriate documents to the Registrar of Voters for placement of the measure on the November 1996 ballot. If the Council 'Wishes to place the issue on the ballot, the COlll1cil should determine: 1) the munber of terms that a COlll1cilmember would be limited to serving; and 2) the number oftern.!.s the Mayor would be limited to serving. The City Attorney and City Clerk should be directed to prepare the appropriate ballot language and necessary documentation, to be brought back to the Council for adoption no later than July 23, 1996. EXHIBIT 2 ~~-----------------------co-PIlfST()~----------------------- ITEMNO. B.Z Ap/l.iL. :'J, 1'1'/4, K: /g/4-13-96/as-terms.d at . . . lilTY GLf:KK FILE # D~[z]~-l2J[Q] CITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE MAY 14, 1996 SUBJECT: ~' Term Limits for Councilmembers and/or Mayor (Report prepared by Elizabeth Silver, City Attorney & Kay Keck, City Clerk) EXHIBITS ATTACHED: Agenda Statement for April 23, 1996 (Item 8.2) RECOMMENDATION: ~~ I) Consider Motion to "Take From the Table" 2) If Motion Passes, vote on main motion and provide appropriate direction to staff FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Minor costs to City if a Council-sponsored initiative were placed on November 1996 ballot to approve term limits DESCRIPTION: At the April 23, 1996, Council meeting, the Council considered the issue of term limits for councilmembers and/or the mayor. Due to legislation enacted last year (SB 2), a general 'law city may impose term limits on persons elected to the positions of councilmember and/or mayor. (See April 23, 1996 Agenda Statement.) Mter discussing the matter, one motion was made which failed. Another motion was then made by Councilmember Burton and seconded by Councilmember Howard as follows: "To allow eight (8) years for the position of Mayor and eight (8) years as Councilmember with the exception that less than' half a teml would not count. If you are on the Council and you run for Mayor, it breaks the continuity, so you could run another eight (8) years." Councilmember Moffatt made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Barnes, to table the main motion. The motion to table passed. Under Robert's Rules of Order, when a motion has been tabled, it can be removed from the table at the same meeting or the next meeting by a motion to "take it from ITEIVI NO. .J'. 2 " the table." . If the Council wishes to consider this issue, it must first pass a motion taking Councilmember Burton's motion "from the table." . If a motion to talce the main motion "from the table" passes, the Council should vote on Councilmember Burton's motion. ;, Issues which ,the Council may wish to consider with respect to Councilmember Burton's motion or with respect to any other motion which may be made after his motion is voted upon include: I. Should term limits be imposed for the office of Mayor and the officer of Councilmember? 2. What limit would be placed on the number of terms of office for Mayor and Councilmember? 3 . Would the limitation for the offices of Mayor and Councilmember be combined so there is an effective limitation of "X" years on the Councilor would the limitations be separate? . 4. Would the limitation on the number of terms be a lifetime limit or a consecutive limit? 5. Would the limitation apply to persons elected to office on November 5, 1996 (assuming the ballot measure appears on that ballot) or would the limitation apply to persons elected at the following election (November 1998)? 6. What is a "term"? That is, if a person serves on the Council for Jess than a full 4-year term, should a "term" be defined to include service of more than half of the full 4-year term and exclude senrice if it is less than half of a 4-year term? If the Council wishes to place the issue on the ballot, it should direct the City Attorney and City Clerk to prepare the appropriate ballot language and necessary documentation to be brought back to the Council for adoption no later than July 23, 1996. J ;\WPD\MNRSW\I 14\MISC\TERM-LMT.96 .