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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 7.2 - 1780 Changes to Term Limits Page 1 of 5 STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL DATE: January 9, 2018 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Christopher L. Foss, City Manager SUBJECT: Consideration of Potential Ballot Measures on Council and Mayoral Term Limits and Mayoral Term of Office Prepared by: John Bakker, City Attorney EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On December 5, 2017, the City Council reviewed the provisions of the Municipal Code that establish term limits for the offices of the City Council and Mayor. The City Council directed Staff to return with the three separate potential measures. Two of the items would make changes to the existing term limits for the Mayor and City Council. The other would change the term of office for the Mayor from two years to four years. If the City Council desires to have the voters consider any of the proposed measures, it can direct Staff to return with resolutions calling an election on one or more of the proposed measures. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Provide direction to Staff. FINANCIAL IMPACT: City Staff is working with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to determine the estimated cost of placing one or more measures on the ballot, including costs associated with translation, proofing, and printing and mailing the Voter Information Guide and Sample Ballot. Since the measure or measures would likely be consolidated with the June 2018 primary or the November 2018 general election, the costs are anticipated to be between $107,664 and $161,496. DESCRIPTION: On December 5, 2017, the City Council reviewed the term limits of the City Council and Mayor (Dublin Municipal Code section 2.08.050) and directed staff to return with the following three separate items for the Council to review and consider placing on a future ballot: 1. Establishing separate term limits for the office of Mayor and City Council (allowing an individual to consecutively serve 2 terms as a member of the City Page 2 of 5 Council and 4 terms as Mayor); 2. Increasing the term limits from 2 to 3 terms for the City Council and 4 to 6 terms for the Mayor; and 3. Increasing the Mayoral term from 2 to 4 years. Three proposed ordinances are attached that, if approved by the voters, would accomplish each of these objectives. Each draft ordinance is discussed in more detail below. Text of Proposed Measures 1. Separate Term Limits for City Council and Mayor This proposed ordinance (Attachment 1) would allow a City Councilmember who has served two consecutive terms to serve as Mayor for four subsequent and consecutive terms. Under the current Code, a City Councilmember who has served two consecutive terms cannot serve a subsequent and consecutive term as Mayor. Similarly, the proposed ordinance would allow a Mayor who has served four consecutive terms to serve as a City Councilmember for two sub sequent and consecutive terms. Under the current Code, a Mayor who has served three or four consecutive terms cannot serve a subsequent and consecutive term as a City Councilmember. The following shows a markup of the proposed amendment to Section 2.08.05 0 of the Municipal Code: A. 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. In addition: (A) no person who has served as a Councilmember for one (1) term shall serve more than two (2) terms as Mayor if the terms as Councilmember and Mayor are consecutive; (B) no person who has served as Councilmember for two (2) consecutive terms shall serve a consecutive term as Mayor; (C) no person who has served as Mayor for three (3) or four (4) consecutive terms shall serve a consecutive term as a Councilmember; (D) no person who has served as Mayor for two (2) consecutive terms shall serve more than one (1) succeeding consecutive term as Councilmember; (E) no person who has served consecutive terms as Mayor and Councilmember shall serve more than one (1) more consecutive term as Mayor; and (F) no person who has served consecutive terms as Mayor and Councilmember shall serve another consecutive term as Councilmember. B. No person shall serve any combination of consecutive terms as Councilmember and Mayor that cumulatively exceed sixteen (16) years. C. 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 Page 3 of 5 two (2) years plus one (1) 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 (1) year plus one (1) day. Subdivision B is designed to prevent a scenario where an individual extends his or her consecutive time in office beyond 16 consecutive years. For example, the language in subdivision A by itself would allow an individual to serve alternate terms as a City Councilmember and Mayor without a limit, since he or she would not have served more than either two consecutive council terms or four consecutive mayoral terms. 2. Increase Term Limits for Mayor and City Council This proposed ordinance (Attachment 2) would increase the term limit for City Councilmembers from two to three terms and increase the term limit for Mayor from four to six terms. The following shows a markup of the proposed amendment to Section 2.08.050 of the Municipal Code: A. No person shall serve as Councilmember for more than three two (32) consecutive terms, nor shall any person serve as Mayor for more than six four (64) consecutive terms. In addition: (A) no person who has served as a Councilmember for one (1) term shall serve more than two (2) terms as Mayor if the terms as Councilmember and Mayor are consecutive; (B) no person who has served as Councilmember for two (2) consecutive terms shall serve a consecutive term as Mayor; (C) no person who has served as Mayor for three (3) or four (4) consecutive terms shall serve a consecutive term as a Councilmember; (D) no person who has served as Mayor for two (2) consecutive terms shall serve more than one (1) succeeding consecutive term as Councilmember; (E) no person who has served consecutive terms as Mayor and Councilmember shall serve more than one (1) more consecutive term as Mayor; and (F) no person who has served consecutive terms as Mayor and Councilmember shall serve another consecutive term as Councilmember. B. No person shall serve any combination of consecutive terms as Councilmember and Mayor that cumulatively exceed twelve (12) years. C. 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 (2) years plus one (1) 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 (1) year plus one (1) day. Under the current Code, a City Council term is four years, and a mayoral term is two years. Increasing the City Council term limit to three terms would allow a Councilmember to serve terms of up to 12 consecutive years. Similarly, increasing the mayoral term limit to six two-year terms would allow a Mayor to serve terms of up to 12 years. The second sentence of existing section 2.08.050 limits any combination of Mayoral and Council consecutive terms to terms that do not exceed eight years, and it does so by listing every possible combination. Proposed subdivision B accomplishes the same policy goal with simpler language and increases the cumulative limit from 8 to 12 years, consistent with the increase from 2 to 3 council terms and 4 to 6 mayoral Page 4 of 5 terms. 3. Increase Term of Office for Mayor This proposed ordinance (Attachment 3) would amend Section 2.08.030 to increase the term of office for the Mayor from two years to four years: The following shows a markup of the proposed amendment to Section 2.08.030 of the Municipal Code: A. The electors shall hereafter elect a Mayor and four (4) City Councilmembers. B. The term of office of the Mayor shall be four two (42) years. Next Steps If the City Council desires to proceed with one or more of the proposed amendments, the City Council should give direction to Staff to return at a future meeting with resolutions calling a municipal election on the measure or measures to be considered by the voters. If the City Council desires to place more than one of the items on the ballot, it will need to determine whether the ordinances should be considered as a single ballot m easure or separately. If they are considered as a single item, Staff would need to revise the proposed text to reflect the City Council’s policy objectives. For example, the City Council might choose to propose a revision to the term limits section that b oth increased the council term limit from 2 to 3 terms and the mayoral limit from 4 to 6 terms and eliminated the restrictions on separate terms. Staff would need to prepare revised ordinance text to accomplish both objectives. Similarly, if the City Cou ncil wanted to propose an increase in the Mayoral term and either or both of the proposed changes to the terms limits, the text would need to be revised to account for the fact that the term limits applies to terms and an increase in the length of the term would allow a mayor to serve longer than either 8 or 12 years. In either case, Staff would need to prepare revised ordinance text to accomplish the City Council’s objective. If the items were presented to the voters as separate ballot measures, the la nguage of each measure would need to anticipate the possibility that both or only one might pass. The increase in the Mayoral term, as noted above, would impact the operation of the term limits. Staff would propose to anticipate the possibility by drafti ng an ordinance that contains two versions of the amendments. One would apply if both measures passed, and the other would apply if only one of the measures passed. Election Dates and Costs. Upcoming election dates include two countywide elections, th e June 5, 2018 primary and the November 6, 2018 general election. To place a measure on the ballot for the June 2018 election, the City Council would need to adopt a resolution calling the election by March 9, 2018. To place a measure on the ballot for t he November 6, 2018 election is August 10, 2018. Page 5 of 5 Election costs are presently unknown. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ website indicates that the costs would be approximately $4-$6 per voter at a countywide consolidated election such as the two upcoming elections. Based on the 26,916 registered voters in Dublin as of February 10, 2017, that would equate to an estimated cost of between $107,664 and $161,496. Staff is contacting the Registrar of Voters to obtain an estimate of the costs that the County would charge the City for an election on one or more of the measures. Staff will also attempt to determine whether there are differential costs for multiple ballot measures and for measures that are consolidated with other City elections, such as the November 6, 2018 election where the mayor and two city council seats will be elected. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: None. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Ordinance Amending Combined Consecutive Term Limits for Offices of Mayor and City Council 2. Ordinance Amending Term Limits for Offices of Mayor and City Council 3. Ordinance Amending Term of Office for Office of Mayor ORDINANCE NO. ____ - ____ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN ********* AMENDING CITY COUNCIL AND MAYORAL TERM LIMITS TO ESTABLISH SEPARATE TERM LIMITS FOR THE OFFICE OF COUNCIL MEMBER AND MAYOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Term Limits. Section 2.08.050 of the Dublin Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: “2.08.050 Term limits. A. 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. B. No person shall serve any combination of consecutive terms as Councilmember or Mayor that cumulatively exceed sixteen (16) consecutive years. C. 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 (2) years plus one (1) 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 (1) year plus one (1) day. ” SECTION 2. Effective Date If approved by a majority 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 (10) 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 public places in the City of Dublin in accordance Government Code section 36933. APPROVED by the following vote of the people on _____________: CITY OF DUBLIN MEASURE ___: Yes Votes = _______ No Votes = ______ ADOPTED by Declaration of the vote by the City Council of the City of Dublin on _____________. Effective on _______________. ______________________________ Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________ City Clerk 2904929.4 ORDINANCE NO. ____ - ____ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN ********* INCREASING THE CITY COUNCIL TERM LIMIT FROM 2 TO 3 TERMS AND THE MAYORAL TERM LIMIT FROM 4 TO 6 TERMS THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Term Limits. Section 2.08.050 of the Dublin Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: “2.08.050 Term limits. A. No person shall serve as Councilmember for more than three (3) consecutive terms, nor shall any person serve as Mayor for more than six (6) consecutive terms. B. No person shall serve any combination of consecutive terms as Councilmember and Mayor that cumulatively exceed twelve (12) years. C. 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 (2) years plus one (1) 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 (1) year plus one (1) day.” SECTION 2. Effective Date If approved by a majority 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 (10) 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 public places in the City of Dublin in accordance Government Code section 36933. APPROVED by the following vote of the people on _____________: CITY OF DUBLIN MEASURE ___: Yes Votes = _______ No Votes = ______ ADOPTED by Declaration of the vote by the City Council of the City of Dublin on _____________. Effective on _______________. ______________________________ Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________ City Clerk 2904927.3 ORDINANCE NO. ____ - ____ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN ********* AMENDING TERM OF OFFICE FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR FROM 2 TO 4 YEARS THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Election of Mayor and Councilmembers—Term of office Section 2.08.030 of the Dublin Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: “2.08.030 Election of Mayor and Councilmembers—Term of office. A. The electors shall hereafter elect a Mayor and four (4) City Councilmembers. B. The term of office of the Mayor shall be four (4) years.” SECTION 2. Effective Date If approved by a majority 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 (10) 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 public places in the City of Dublin in accordance Government Code section 36933. APPROVED by the following vote of the people on _____________: CITY OF DUBLIN MEASURE ___: Yes Votes = _______ No Votes = ______ ADOPTED by Declaration of the vote by the City Council of the City of Dublin on _____________. Effective on _______________. ______________________________ Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________ City Clerk 2904926.3