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Home My WebLink About09 POTENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO TERM LIMITS FOR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERSAgenda Item _______ Reviewed: City Manager _______ Finance Director _______ MEETING DATE: JANUARY 16, 2024 TO: NICOLE BERNARD, ACTING CITY MANAGER FROM: DAVID KENDIG, CITY ATTORNEY SUBJECT: POTENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO TERM LIMITS FOR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SUMMARY This staff report presents options for potential amendments to City Council term limits in light of the City’s transition to district elections and seeks the City Council’s direction regarding which proposed amendments to submit to Tustin’s voters. RECOMMENDATION Provide direction regarding proposed term limit revisions and direct staff to return at a future meeting with a draft ordinance for the Council’s consideration prior to placing the proposed ordinance on the November 2024 ballot for voter approval. FISCAL IMPACT None. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION Tustin City Code (TCC) section 1307 established Tustin’s existing term limits as approved by the voters at the November 8, 1994, municipal election. The voters approved a measure that limited Council members to two consecutive terms, and the voters concurrently rejected a measure that would have limited Council members to three consecutive terms. Because the term limits were approved by the voters, any change in the term limits must also be approved by the voters. The primary substantive term limit in current TCC section 1307 reads as follows: “No person shall be elected as a member of the City Council for more than two (2) full consecutive terms. Any member of the City Council who has served two (2) consecutive terms shall not be reelected as a member of the City Council for at least two (2) years from the last date of the second consecutive term.” AGENDA REPORT 9 N/A DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 City Council Agenda Report January 16, 2024 Potential Amendments to Term Limits for Mayor and City Council Members Page 2 On November 1, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance 1518 to establish by-district elections of four Council Members and established the separate office of the Mayor to be elected at-large (e.g., by voters City-wide).1 On July 28, 2023, the City Council directed staff to return to the City Council with a staff report presenting options for potential amendments to the term limits ordinance such that the proposed ordinance could be presented to Tustin voters at the General Election on November 5, 2024.2 This staff report is provided in response to that direction. Term Limit Options Attached are two documents the Council may wish to consider when identifying the direction to staff about the measure to place before the voters: 1. A menu of options related to term limit ordinances; and 2. A summary of the results of a survey conducted the City Clerk of other Orange County cities that have district elections and term limit ordinances and a brief synopsis of those term limit ordinances. To enable preparation of a proposed ordinance reflecting the Council’s desired revisions, the Council may wish to provide direction in response to some or all of the following questions: • What maximum number of terms, or maximum number of years, may a Council member serve? • What should count as a “term” or a “year” when counting toward the limit? o Any portion of a term? Only a completed term? Some specified number of days served? o If someone is appointed to fill a portion of a term, should the remainder of that appointed term count as one term? 1 This agenda item does not address the duration of Council or Mayoral terms nor the sequence of elections to those offices. Those matters are subject to specific statutory hearing requirements applicable to districting and redistricting that are not involved in decision-making about term limits. 2 The City’s deadline to file with the County Registrar of Voters the resolution placing the measure on the ballot, along with direct arguments and the City Attorney’s impartial analysis, is Friday, August 9, 2024. DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 City Council Agenda Report January 16, 2024 Potential Amendments to Term Limits for Mayor and City Council Members Page 3 • Should the term limits for Mayoral and Council terms correlate with one another? o Does serving the maximum number of terms as a Council member preclude one from running for Mayor, and vice versa? o Or is one eligible to run for Mayor even if he/she has served the maximum number of consecutive terms as member of the City Council? • How long should one be precluded from running for office after serving the maximum number of consecutive terms or years? o One year? Two years? Lifetime? • Should the prohibition also apply to being appointed to fill a vacancy on the Council? • For those who are currently serving as elected Council members or as Mayor, should that prior service be counted toward the revised term limits? Or should the term limits “reset” such that current office-holders begin all ? • For purposes of calculating how many terms a candidate has previously served, should a term served as a Council member elected City-wide (e.g., elected prior to 2022) be treated the same as a term served when one is elected from a district? o For instance, Candidate A was originally elected to the Council by City- wide vote. Four years later, after districts were adopted, Candidate A is elected by the voters in a district. If a limit of two terms is approved, has that candidate served just one term in that district seat of has he/she served two terms because he/she served on the City Council twice? Based on the direction provided by the City Council at this meeting, the City Attorney will prepare a proposed term limit ordinance and a resolution to place the item on the November 2024 ballot, as previously directed by the Council. The Council will consider the proposed ordinance and resolution at a future meeting. Attachment: 1. Menu of Term Limit Options 2. Survey of Orange County Cities with Council Districts DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 Note: This item does not address the duration of Council or Mayoral terms nor the sequence of elections to those offices. Those matters are subject to specific statutory hearing requirements applicable to districting and redistricting that are not involved in decision-making about term limits. ATTACHMENT 1 MENU OF TERM LIMIT OPTIONS Options for number of terms or number of years: • Two terms • Three terms • Four terms • Eight consecutive years • Ten consecutive years • Twelve consecutive years • Eight years in any 10-year period • Twelve years in any 14 year period • Some combination thereof (e.g., two consecutive terms nor four terms per lifetime) Options for what counts as one “term”: • Actual service of one full, elected term (e.g., mid-term appointments or terms that terminate early due to resignation or statutory vacancy do not count as a term). • Actual service of two or more years of an elected or appointed term. • Actual service of any portion of an elected or appointed term. • Election or appointment to a term, regardless of what portion of the term is actually served. Options for how Mayoral and Council terms interrelate to affect the term limit: • Each counts toward disqualification from the other (e.g., one Council district term plus one City-wide Mayoral term = two consecutive terms for purposes of limiting running for either Mayor or Council) • Two separate tracks (e.g., one who is termed out of Council may run for City-wide Mayor and vice-versa) [CONTINUED] DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 Note: This item does not address the duration of Council or Mayoral terms nor the sequence of elections to those offices. Those matters are subject to specific statutory hearing requirements applicable to districting and redistricting that are not involved in decision-making about term limits. Options for the prohibition period (e.g., how long one is prohibited from running again when one is termed out): • For life. • For at least two years after last holding office. • For at least two years after the last elected or appointed term expired. Options during the prohibition period: • The individual is barred from running for office during the prohibition period • The individual is barred from running for office or being appointed to fill a vacancy during the prohibition period. Options for treatment of past terms of current Council members and Mayor: • Reset option - no past terms count toward the new term limits. • Past terms all count toward the term limit calculation under the new rule. • Elections in November 2022 and later count, since those elections were/are under the new district election system. DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 City Type of Mayor: Selected by Council Members/ Elected Terms of Office for Council Members and Mayor Did Term Limits Reset Due to the Districts Transition Anaheim Elected - Four-year term Council Member and Mayor: Four year term No person shall serve as Mayor or as member of the City Council for a combined period of more than eight consecutive years No Buena Park Selected by Council Members (Members serve at least one year before serving as Mayor Pro Tem) Council Member: Three consecutive four year terms No Costa Mesa Elected - Two-year term Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms Mayor: Two consecutive two year terms, in addition to any four year terms served on the city council subject Yes, however new members were voted in so it did not apply. Cypress In process of establishing districts for the 2024 November General Election Dana Point Selected by Council Members Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms No Fullerton Selected by Council Members Council Member: Three consecutive four year terms No Garden Grove Elected - Two-year term Mayor: Four consecutive two year terms Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms No Orange County Cities With Districts ATTACHMENT 2 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 Lake Forest Selected by Council Members Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms No Los Alamitos Selected by Council Members Council Member: Three consecutive four year terms No Mission Viejo Selected by Council Members Council Member: Three consecutive four year terms No Newport Beach Selected by Council Members Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms N/A - always has been districts Orange Elected - Two-year term Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms Mayor: Three consecutive two year terms No Placentia Selected by Council Members Council Member: Three consecutive four year terms Yes Rancho Santa Margarita (beginning November 2024) Elected - Four-year term Council Member: Four year term Mayor: Four year term N/A - no term limits San Juan Capistrano Selected by Council Members Council Member: Four year term (no term limits)N/A - no term limits DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3 San Clemente (beginning November 2024) Elected - Two-year term Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms Mayor: Three consectutive two-year terms Santa Ana Elected - Four year term Council Member: Three four-year terms regardless if they are consecutive or not (total of 12 years of service) Mayor: Four two-year terms regardless if they are consecutive or not (total of 8 years of service) No Seal Beach Selected by Council Members Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms No Stanton Elected Council Member: Two consecutive four year terms Council Members are ineligible to hold office as a member of the City Council, once a member has served on the City Council for two full terms (does not need to be consecutive). Mayor: No term limits No Westminster Elected Three four-year terms for any combination of Mayor and Council Member Term limits were established with the districts process DocuSign Envelope ID: 4B434E77-50D4-40A2-B8AA-CB46C4D750B3