HomeMy WebLinkAbout16 PROPOSED FORM OF ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY’S TERM LIMITSDocuSign Envelope ID: FEB221 E4-DB85-410A-94CA-4DD2CBB8D33F
MEETING DATE
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
AGENDA REPORT
MARCH 5, 2024
NICOLE BERNARD, ACTING CITY MANAGER
DAVID KENDIG, CITY ATTORNEY
Agenda Item 16
Reviewed: DS
City Manager ?tB
Finance Director N/A
PROPOSED FORM OF ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY'S TERM LIMITS
FOR MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
In accordance with the City Council's direction at its January 16, 2024, meeting, this
item returns to the Council for consideration and approval of the attached form of City
ordinance that would, if approved by Tustin's voters at the November 2024 election,
amend the City's term limits.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the form of the attached Ordinance 1542 for inclusion with a measure to be
placed before Tustin's voters at the November 5, 2024, election; and
2. Direct staff to return to the Council with proposed resolutions related to calling the
election on November 5, 2024, for: (1) the proposed term limits measure, and (2) the
elections for Council Districts 1, 2 and 4 in accordance with Tustin City Code section
1309 d.(2)(d).
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
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City Council Agenda Report
March 5, 2024
Potential Amendments to Term Limits for Mayor and City Council Members
Page 2
(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."
On November 1, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance 1518 establishing 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).'
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.
On January 16, 2024, the City Council approved a motion 4-1 (Council Member Clark
dissenting) directing the City Attorney to prepare a draft ordinance with the following
amendments for the City Council's consideration for placement before the voters in
November, 2024:
• Establish a limit of three full terms or twelve years, whichever is less;
• Defining service of two years or more during a term, whether appointed or
elected, to count toward the limit as a full term;
• Mayoral and Council Member terms count towards the same limit;
• Keep the prohibition period of two years from the last day of service;
• An individual is eligible for appointment to filla vacancy during that prohibition
period; and
• Terms served by current Council Members do not count towards the new limit
and the limits would be applicable beginning with the November 2026 election.
The Draft Ordinance
Based on the direction provided by the City Council, the City Attorney has prepared a
proposed draft term limit ordinance for the November 2024 ballot in accordance with the
Council's January 16 direction.
The proposed ordinance 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.
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City Council Agenda Report
March 5, 2024
Potential Amendments to Term Limits for Mayor and City Council Members
Page 3
If the proposed form of the ordinance is acceptable to the Council, the Council may
approve the form and direct staff to return at a future meeting (likely in the June or July,
2024) with Resolutions calling the November election both for the term limit item and for
three district elections.
If, on the other hand, the Council wishes to revise the form of the ordinance, additional
direction may be provided to staff at this time, and a revised version of the proposed
ordinance can be prepared for Council approval.
Attachment:
1. Proposed Ordinance 1542 for Voter Approval to Amend Term Limits
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ATTACHMENT 1
ORDINANCE NO. 1542
AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA REVISING THE LIMITATIONS ON
CONSECUTIVE TERMS OF THE MAYOR AND MEMBERS
OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Pursuant to California Elections Code section 9222, the people of the City of Tustin do
hereby ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 1307 of the Tustin City Code is hereby repealed in its entirety and
revised to read as follows:
1307- LIMITATION ON CONSECUTIVE TERMS OF MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF
THE COUNCIL
(a) Findings and Purpose
The people hereby find and declare:
(1) The Founders established a system of representative government based
upon free, fair, and competitive elections. The increased concentration
of political power in the hands of incumbent representatives has made
electoral systems less free, less competitive, and less representative.
(2) The ability of legislators to serve an unlimited number of terms
contributes heavily to the extremely high number of incumbents who are
reelected. This unfair incumbent advantage discourages qualified
candidates from seeking public office and creates a class of career
politicians, instead of the citizen representatives envisioned by the
Founders. These career politicians become representatives of the
bureaucracy, rather than of the people whom they are elected to
represent.
(3) The purpose of this section is to ensure a free and democratic system of
fair elections, and to encourage qualified candidates to seek public
office, by limiting the powers of incumbency, by establishing limitations
upon the number of consecutive terms and consecutive years which a
person may be elected to serve as Mayor, as a member of the City
Council, or any combination thereof.
(b) Limitation on Consecutive Elected Terms: Any person who has served as a
member of City Council or in the office of Mayor, or any combination thereof,
for more than three consecutive terms or for more than twelve consecutive
years, whichever is less, shall not be eligible to be elected to the City Council
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or to the office of Mayor for a period of two calendar years from the last date of
service on the City Council or as Mayor.
(1) If the person's service of the third consecutive term or the twelfth
consecutive year ends in December after a general election, that person
shall be eligible to run and be elected in the general election in November
of the calendar year two years later. (For example: if a Council member's
third term ends upon certification of election results in December 2050, then
that person would be eligible to be elected in November 2052
notwithstanding that the election date is less than two full years after the
last date of service in 2050.)
(c) Definition of a Term: When a person serves less than a full term as member
of the City Council or as Mayor due to appointment, resignation, vacancy, or
due to special election to fill a vacancy, such service in office shall be counted
toward the limitation on consecutive elected terms if the individual served two
or more years (730 days or more) of that term.
(d) Appointment to Fill a Vacancy: This section shall not be construed to prevent a
person from being appointed to fill a vacancy on the City Council or in the office
of Mayor at any time.
(e) Retroactivity: Pursuant to California Government Code section 36502(b), this
section shall apply prospectively only. This section shall apply to the terms of
office commencing with the election in November 2026. Terms that are
commenced, and years that are served, as members of the City Council or as
Mayor prior to November 2026 shall not be included when calculating the
number of terms or years served for purposes of this section.
SECTION 2: Ordinances 1126, 1175, and 1180 are hereby repealed in their entirety,
effective upon the effective date of this ordinance.
SECTION 3: Pursuant to California Elections Code 9217, this ordinance shall be become
valid and binding if a majority of the voters voting on the proposed ordinance vote in its
favor. It shall be considered as adopted upon the date that the vote is declared by the
City Council, and shall go into effect 10 days after that date.
SECTION 4: If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase in this Ordinance, or any part thereof, is for any reason held to be unconstitutional
or invalid, or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not
affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Ordinance, or any part
thereof. The People of the City of Tustin hereby declare that they would have passed this
Ordinance and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, and phrase
thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions,
sentences, clauses, or phrases are subsequently declared unconstitutional or otherwise
invalid or ineffective.
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ADOPTED by vote of the People of the City of Tustin on the 5t" day of November,
2024, and declared and certified by the Tustin City Council on the day of
2024.
AUSTIN LUMBARD,
Mayor
ATTEST:
ERICA N. YASUDA,
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DAVID E. KENDIG
City Attorney
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF TUSTIN )
I, Erica N. Yasuda, City Clerk, and ex officio Clerk of the city Council of the City of Tustin,
California, does hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council
of the City of Tustin is 5; that the adoption of the above and foregoing Ordinance Number
was duly declared and certified by the Tustin City Council at a meeting held on the
day of , 2024, by the following vote:
COUNCILMEMBERS AYES:
COUNCILMEMBERS NOES:
COUNCILMEMBERS ABSTAINED:
COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT:
COUNCILMEMBERS RECUSED:
ERICA N. YASUDA,
City Clerk