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City
Council Report |
City Council Meeting: April 22,
2014
Agenda Item: 8-C
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Sarah Gorman, Director, Records and
Election Services/City Clerk
Subject: Certification of Qualification of Referendum
Petition and Direction to City Staff
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) receive and file the attached
Certification of Qualification for a petition entitled “Referendum Against an
Ordinance Passed by the City Council”, referencing Ordinance No. 2454 (CCS);
and
2) direct City Staff to prepare the necessary documents.
Executive Summary
This report recommends Council receive and file the
attached Certification of Qualification for a referendum petition, and direct
the City Attorney to prepare the necessary documents to either repeal Ordinance
No. 2454 (CCS) entitled “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Santa
Monica Approving the Development Agreement between the City of Santa Monica, a
Municipal Corporation, and Hines 26th Street LLC, a Delaware Limited
Liability Company” or submit the ordinance to a simple majority vote of the
people.
The ordinance is the Development Agreement for 1681 26th
St,, Santa Monica, also known as the “Bergamot Transit Village” or the “Hines
Project.” The proponents have gathered enough signatures on a referendum
petition to require Council to either repeal the ordinance, set the ordinance
for a vote of the people on a special election between August 10 and November
4, 2014, or to set the ordinance for a vote of the people on at the Regular
Municipal Election set for November 4, 2014. Following review of signatures by
the County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, the City’s Director
of Records and Elections Services has
certified that the petition is sufficient.
Staff recommends that the Council receive
and file this certification, that Council direct the City Staff to place on a
future City Council agenda actions either to repeal the ordinance, set it for a
timely Special Election, or set it for the Regular Municipal Election on
November 4, 2014, with appropriate resolutions.
At that future meeting the Council would decide whether to repeal the
Ordinance, call a Special Election, or place the item as a measure on the
Regular Municipal Election ballot.
Background
On March 11, 2014 , a
referendum petition was filed with the City Clerk protesting the adoption of
Ordinance No. 2454 (CCS), adopted by the City Council on February 11, 2014. The petition requests the reconsideration and
repeal of the ordinance by the City Council or that it be
submitted to a vote of the people of Santa Monica at the next regular election,
which is on November 4, 2014.
When a referendum petition
is filed with the Clerk’s office, the Clerk’s office performs a prima facie
review of the petition, and then sends the petition to the County
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office to check to see if there are adequate
validated signatures on the petition. If
there are adequate valid signatures on the petition, the Clerk’s office then
certifies the petition and certifies the results of the examination to the
Council at the next regular meeting. In this case, the Clerk’s office performed
a prima facie review and the County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office
determined that there were adequate valid signatures on the petition. The
Clerk’s office has certified the petition and is now presenting the petition to
Council at the next regular meeting.
California Elections Code
section 9237 provides that if a petition protesting the adoption of an
ordinance, circulated for signature appropriately under law, is submitted to
the Clerk within 30 days of the date the ordinance is attested to, and is
signed by no less than 10 percent of the City’s voters, “the effective date of
the ordinance shall be suspended and the legislative body shall reconsider the
ordinance.”
Discussion
Because the
petition contained signatures of Santa Monica registered voters in excess of
the 10% requirement, the Ordinance is now suspended until repealed or a
resolution declaring the result of an election is adopted. City Council action
to receive and file the Certification is required. As provided for in Elections
Codes section 9237 and 9241, the City Council can at a future meeting:
1.
Reconsider and Repeal Ordinance
No. 2454 (CCS),
2.
If the ordinance is not entirely
repealed, call a Special Election in no less than 88 days;
3.
Place the measure on the ballot
for the Regular Municipal Election to be held on November 4, 2014.
Council should
direct City Staff to place these possible actions on a future City Council
meeting agenda with appropriate resolutions.
Were Council to choose Option 2, calling a Special Election,
that election would need to occur between August 10, 2014 and November
4, 2014. Were the Council to choose
Option 3, placing the measure on the ballot for the Regular Municipal Election
to be held on November 4, 2014, the referendum measure would be an additional
item on a ballot that would already contain other contests, including City
Council races, County races, and State and Federal races, in addition to any
other measures set for that ballot.
If the voters approve the ordinance in an election by voting
against the referendum, it would take effect upon certification of those
election results. If the voters
disapprove the ordinance by voting in favor of the referendum, the ordinance will
continue to not be in effect. A simple majority is required to either approve
or repeal the ordinance.
Once repealed or disapproved by voters, the ordinance cannot
be enacted by the Council for a period of one year after the date of repeal or
disapproval of the voters.
Financial
Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary
as a result of the recommended action.
Staff will return to Council with estimates for placing the measure on a
Special Election or Regular Election ballot.
At this time, it appears that a Special Election would cost
approximately $200,000; adding this measure to the November 4, 2014 Regular Election ballot would cost approximately $5,000.
Prepared by: Sarah Gorman, City Clerk
Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Sarah Gorman Rod
Gould
Director, Records and
Election Services City Manager
Attachment:
Certificate of Signature Count of Referendum Petition
regarding Ordinance No. 2454 (CCS)