THE INITIATIVE PROCESS IN
THE CITY OF
(January 2008)
The following
information is intended to assist residents who are considering circulating a
petition for a local measure/initiative in the City of
Steps for circulating and filing a
petition for a measure/initiative:
8. Should
the City Council order a report, as provided for in Section 9212, the report
will be presented to Council no
later
than 30 days, at which time Council may adopt the ordinance as presented or
call an election as indicated
above.
9. The
suggested date for submitting a signed petition to the City Clerk for placement
on a November ballot election is
approximately
172 days prior to the election. i.e., mid-May of the election year.
2007
CHAPTER 3 - SECTIONS
9200-9226
9200. Scope of article.
Ordinances may be enacted by and for
any incorporated city pursuant to this article.
9201. Proposed ordinance
may be submitted by petition.
Any proposed ordinance may be
submitted to the legislative body of the city by a petition filed with the
elections official of the legislative body, in the manner herein after
prescribed, after being signed by not less than the number of voters specified
in this article. The petition may be in
separate sections, providing that the petition complies with this article. The first page of each section shall contain
the title of the petition and the text of the measure. The petition sections shall be designated in
the manner set forth in Section 9020.
9202. Notice of intent to
circulate; filing, form.
(a) Before circulating an initiative
petition in any city, the proponents of the matter shall file with the
elections official a notice of intention to do so, which shall be accompanied
by the written text of the initiative and may be accompanied by a written
statement not in excess of 500, setting forth the reasons for the proposed
petition. The notice shall be signed by
at least one, but not more than three, proponents and shall be in substantially
the following form:
Notice of Intent to
Circulate Petition
Notice
is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to
circulate the petition within the City of
9203. Proposed measure;
title and summary.
(a) Any person who is interested in
any proposed measure shall file a copy of the proposed measure with the
elections official with a request that a ballot title and summary be
prepared. This request shall be accompanied
by the address of the person proposing the measure. The elections official shall immediately
transmit a copy of the proposed measure to the city attorney. Within 15 days after the proposed measure is
filed, the city attorney shall provide and return to the city elections
official a ballot title for and summary of the proposed measure. The ballot title may differ from any other
title of the proposed measure and shall express in 500 words or less the
purpose of the proposed measure. In
providing the ballot title, the city attorney shall give a true and impartial
statement of the purpose of the proposed measure in such language that the
ballot tile shall neither be an argument, nor be likely to create prejudice,
for or against the proposed measure.
(b) The elections official shall
furnish a copy of the ballot title and summary to the person filing the
proposed measure. The person proposing
the measure shall, prior to its circulation, place upon each section of the
petition above the text of the proposed measure and across the top of each page
of the petition on which signatures are to appear, in roman boldface type not
smaller than 12 point, the ballot title prepared by the city attorney. The text of the measure shall be printed in
type not smaller than 8 point.
The heading of the proposed measure
shall be in substantially the following form:
Initiative Measure to be
Submitted Directly to the Voters
The
City attorney has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose
and points of the proposed measure:
(Here set forth the title and summary prepared by the city
attorney. This title and summary must
also be printed across the top of each page of the petition whereon signatures
are to appear.)
9204. Title or summary;
writ of mandate.
Any elector of the city may seek a
writ of mandate requiring the ballot title or summary prepared by the city
attorney to be amended. The court shall
expedite hearing on the writ. A
peremptory writ of mandate shall be issued only upon clear and convincing proof
that the ballot title or summary is false, misleading, or inconsistent with the
requirements of Section 9203.
9205. Where notice is
published or posted.
A notice of intention and the title
and summary of the proposed measure shall be published or posted or both as
follows:
(a) If there is a newspaper of
general circulation, as described in Chapter 1 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code, adjudicated as such, the notice, title, and summary shall be
published therein at least once.
(b) If the petition is to be
circulated in a city in which there is no adjudicated newspaper of general
circulation, the notice, title, and summary shall be published at least once,
in a newspaper circulated within the city and adjudicated as being of general
circulation within the county in which the city is located and the notice,
title, and summary shall be posted in three public places within the city,
which public places shall be those utilized for the purpose of posting
ordinances as required in Section 36933 of the Government Code.
(c)
If the petition is to be circulated in a city in which there is no
adjudicated newspaper of general circulation, and there is no newspaper of
general circulation adjudicated as such within the county, circulated within
the city, then the notice, title, and summary shall be posted in the manner
described in subdivision (b).
9206.
Filing of
publication affidavit.
Within 10 days after the date of
publication or posting, or both, of the notice of intention and title and
summary, the proponents shall file a copy of the notice and title and summary
as published or posted together with an affidavit made by a representative of
the newspaper in which the notice was published, or, if the notice was posted,
by a voter of the city, certifying to the fact of publication or posting.
If the notice and title and summary
are both published and posted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9205, the
proponents shall file affidavits as required by this section made by a
representative of the newspaper in which the notice was published certifying to
the fact that the notice was published and by a voter of the city certifying to
the fact that the notice was posted.
These affidavits, together with a
copy of the notice of intention and title and summary, shall be filed with the
elections official of the legislative body of the city in his or her office
during normal office hours as posted.
9207. When petition may be
circulated.
The proponents may commence to circulate
the petitions among the voters of the city for signatures by any registered
voter of the city after publication or posting, or both, as required by Section
9205, of the title and summary prepared by the city attorney. Each section of the petition shall bear a
copy of the notice of intention and the title and summary prepared by the city
attorney.
9208. Securing of
signatures and petition filing time.
Signatures upon petitions and
sections of petitions shall be secured, and the petition, together with all
sections of the petition, shall be filed within 180 days from the date of
receipt of the title and summary, or after termination of any action for a writ
of mandate pursuant to Section 9204, and, if applicable, any action for a writ
of mandate pursuant to Section 9204, and, if applicable after receipt of an
amended title or summary or both, whichever occurs later. Petitions and sections thereof shall be filed
in the office of the elections official during normal office hours as
posted. If the petitions are not filed
within the time permitted by this section, the petitions shall be void for all
purposes.
9209. Affidavit attached
to petition.
Each section shall have attached
thereto the declaration of the person soliciting the signatures. This declaration shall be substantially in
the same form as set forth in Section 9022, except that the declaration shall
declare that the circulator is a voter or is qualified to register as a voter
of the city, and shall state his or her residence address at the time of the
execution of the declaration.
9210. Filing of petition.
The petition shall be filed by the
proponents or by any person or persons authorized in writing by the
proponents. All sections of the petition
shall be filed at one time. Once filed,
no petition section shall be amended except by order of a court of competent
jurisdiction.
When the petition is presented for
filing, the elections official shall do all of the following:
(a) Ascertain the number of
registered voters of the city last reported by the county elections official to
the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 2187 effective at the time the
notice specified in Section 9202 was published.
(b) Determine the total number of
signatures affixed to the petition if from this examination, the elections
official determines that the number of signatures, prima facie, equals or is in
excess of the minimum number of signatures required, he or she shall accept the
petition for filing. The petition shall
be deemed as filed on that date. Any
petition not accepted for filing shall be returned to the proponents.
9211. Examination of
signatures.
After the petition has been filed,
as herein provided, the elections official shall examine the petition in the
same manner as are county petitions in accordance with Sections 9114 and 9115,
except that for the purposes of this section, references to the board of
supervisors shall be treated as references to the legislative body of the city.
9212. Report on effect of
proposed initiative to legislative body.
(a) During the circulation of the
petition, or before taking either action described in subdivisions (a) and (b)
of Section 9214, or Section 9215, the legislative body may refer the proposed
initiative measure to any city agency or agencies for a report on any or all of
the following:
(1) Its fiscal impact.
(2) Its effect on the
internal consistency of the city's general and specific plans, including the
housing element, the consistency between planning and zoning, and the
limitations on city actions under Section 65008 of the Government Code and
Chapters 4.2 (commencing with Section 65913) and 4.3 (commencing with Section
65915) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.
(3) Its effect on the
use of land, the impact on the availability and location of housing, and the
ability of the city to meet its regional housing needs.
(4) Its impact on
funding for infrastructure of all types, including, but not limited to,
transportation, schools, parks, and open space.
The report may also discuss whether the measure would be likely to
result in increased infrastructure costs or savings, including the costs of
infrastructure maintenance, to current residents and businesses.
(5) Its impact on the
community's ability to attract and retain business and employment.
(6) Its impact on the
uses of vacant parcels of land.
(7) Its impact on
agricultural lands, open space, traffic congestion, existing business
districts, and developed areas designated for revitalization.
(8) Any other matters
the legislative body requests to be in the report.
(b) The report shall be presented to
the legislative body within the time prescribed by the legislative body, but no
later than 30 days after the elections official certifies to the legislative
body the sufficiency of the petition.
9213. Report on municipal
initiatives submitted to Secretary of State; time.
(Not applicable to initiative
proponents.)
9214. Petition signatures;
adopt ordinance or order special election.
If the initiative petition is signed
by not less than 15 percent of the voters of the city according to the last
report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of
State pursuant to Section 2187, effective at the time the notice specified in
Section 9202 was published, or, in a city with 1,000 or less registered voters,
by 25 percent of the voters or 100 voters of the city, whichever is the lesser
number, and contains a request that the ordinance be submitted immediately to a
vote of the people at a special election, the legislative body shall do one of
the following:
(a) Adopt the ordinance, without
alteration, at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition
is presented, or within 10 days after it is presented.
(b) Immediately order a special
election, to be held pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1405, at which the
ordinance, without alteration, shall be submitted to a vote of the voters of
the city.
(c) Order a report pursuant to
Section 9212 at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition
is presented. When the report is
presented to the legislative body, the legislative body shall either adopt the
ordinance within 10 days or order an election pursuant to subdivision (b).
9215. Petition signatures; ordinance submitted at next regular
municipal election.
If the initiative petition is signed
by not less than 10 percent of the voters of the city, according to the last
report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of
State pursuant to Section 2187, effective at the time the notice specified in
Section 9202 was published, or, in a city with 1,000 or less registered voters,
by 25 percent of the voters or 100 voters of the city, whichever is the lesser
number, and contains a request that the ordinance be submitted immediately to a
vote of the people at a special election, the legislative body shall do one of
the following:
(a)
Adopt the ordinance, without alteration, at the regular meeting at which
the certification of the petition is presented, or within 10 days after it is
presented.
(b) Submit the ordinance, without
alteration, to the voters pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1405, unless
the ordinance petitioned for is required to be, or for some reason is, submitted
to the voters at a special election pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
1405.
(c) Order a report pursuant to
Section 9212 at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition
is presented. When the report is
presented to the legislative body, the legislative body shall either adopt the
ordinance within 10 days or order an election pursuant to subdivision (b).
9216. Mayor may veto.
In cities having a mayor, or like
officer, with the veto power, when the passage of an ordinance petitioned for
by the voters is vetoed, the failure of the legislative body to pass the
ordinance over the veto shall be deemed a refusal of the legislative body to
pass the ordinance within the meaning of this article.
9217. Valid ordinance if
majority.
If a majority of the voters voting
on a proposed ordinance vote in its favor, the ordinance shall become a valid
and binding ordinance of the city. The
ordinance shall be considered as adopted upon the date that the vote is
declared by the legislative body, and shall go into effect 10 days after that
date. No ordinance that is either
proposed by initiative petition and adopted by the vote of the legislative body
of the city without submission to the voters, or adopted by the voters, shall
be repealed or amended except by a vote of the people, unless provision is
otherwise made in the original ordinance.
9218. More than one
ordinance at same election.
Any number of proposed ordinances may
be voted upon at the same election, but the same subject matter shall not be
voted upon twice within any 12-month period at a special election under the
provisions of this article.
9219-9220 (repealed)
9221. Conflicting
ordinances.
If the provisions of two or more
ordinances adopted at the same election conflict, the ordinance receiving the
highest number of affirmative votes shall control.
9222. Legislative body may
submit proposed ordinance to voters.
The legislative body of the city may
submit to the voters, without a petition therefor, a
proposition for a repeal, amendment, or enactment of any ordinance, to be voted
upon at any succeeding regular or special city election, and if the proposition
submitted receives a majority of the votes cast on it at the election, the
ordinance shall be repealed, amended, or enacted accordingly. A proposition may be submitted, or a special
election may be called for the purpose of voting on a proposition, by ordinance
or resolution. The election shall be
held not less than 88 days after the date of the order of the election.
9223. Copy of ordinance
made available to voter.
Whenever any ordinance or measure is
required by this article to be submitted to the voters of a city at any
election, the elections official of the legislative body shall cause the
ordinance or measure to be printed. A
copy of the ordinance or measure shall be made available to any voter upon
request.
9224. Enacting clause of
ordinance.
The enacting clause of an ordinance
submitted to the voters of a city shall be substantially in the following form:
The people of the City of
9225. (repealed)
9226. Scope of article.
This article does not apply to any
statewide initiative measure.