HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 1126 (1994) ] ORDINANCE NO. 1126
AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA,
LIMITING CONSECUTIVE TERMS OF MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
4 Pursuant to California Elections Code 4017, the people of
the City of Tustin hereby ordain as follows: ~
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF LIMITATIONS ON CONSECUTIVE
TERMS OF MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
7 Section 1307 of Chapter 3 of Article 1 of the
Tustin City Code is hereby added to read as follows:
8
"1307 'Limitation on Consecutive Terms of Members of the
9 Council.
~0 (a) Findings and Purpose.
~ The people hereby find and declare:
~2 (1) The Founders established a system of
representative government based upon free, fair, and
~3 competitive elections. The increased concentration of
political power in the hands of incumbent representatives has
~4 made our electorial system less free, less competitive, and
less 'representative.
~5
(2) The ability of legislators to serve an
~6 unlimited number of terms contributes heavily to the extremely
high number of incumbents who are reelected. This unfair
~7 incumbent advantage discourages qualified candidates from
seeking public office and creates a class of career
~8 politicians, instead of the citizen representatives envisioned
by the Founders. These career politicians become
~9 representatives of the bureaucracy, rather than of. the people
whom they are elected to represent.
(3) The purpose of this Ordinance is to
restore a free and democratic system of fair elections, and to
encourage qualified candidates to seek public office, by
limitingthe powers of incumhency, by placing limitations upon
the n~mber of consecutive terms which may be served by members
23 of the City Council.
24 (b) Limitations on Consecutive Terms for Council
Members.
· (1) 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 Councfl who has served two (2)
27 'consecutive terms shall not be reelected as a member of the
City Council for at least two (2) years from the last date of
28 the second consecutive term.
(2) This Ordinance shall not operate to shorten any
current term of members of the City Council presently in
office.
(c) Applicability of Other Laws.
In the absence of state legislation to allow general
law cities to establish term llimits, section 1307(b) will not
be binding on the City until general law cities are auth=orized
by state legislation to enforce term limits. 'The voters,
however, can reject candidates who seek public office for more
than two (2) consecutive terms now.
(d) Severability.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence,
clause, phrase, or portion to 'this Ordinance, is for any
reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision
of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decisionl shall
not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
Ordinance. The people of the City of Tustin hereby declare
that they would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section,
subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion
thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more
sections, subsections, subdivisions,. sentences, clauses,
phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or
unconstitutional.
SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Pursuant to Elections Code 4017, the Ordinance shall
become effective upo~ the City Council's and the City Clerk's
certification that this measure has passed by a majority vote
of the people.
ADOPTED by a vote' of the people of the City of Tustin on
the 8th day of November, 1994 , and certified by the
Tustin City Council on the 5th day of December ,
1994.
THOMAS R. SA~RELLI, Mayor
ATTEST:
..~...E. WYNN, City Clerk