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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-11-24 CRC MINS MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION November 24, 1997 City Attorney's Conference Room 4 : 30 p.m. ----------------------------------------------------------------- MEMBERS PRESENT: John Dorso, _ Harriet Acton, Barbara McAllister, Bob Campbell, David Potter and Deric Prescott MEMBERS ABSENT: Jack Blakely STAFF PRESENT: City Attorney John M. Kaheny OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Ayres The meeting was called to order at 4 : 30 p.m. 1. Roll Call. The roll was, called and all members were present except Member Blakely who asked to be excused due to a conflicting meeting of the parade committee. 2 . Approval of Minutes. MSUC (Prescott/McAllister.) to approve the minutes of October 27, , 1997 as corrected by Member McAllister to reflect a change on page 4, Item 6 (Report by City Attorney) to indicate "Commissioner McAllister stated a decision on Proposition 208 would not be out. of the courts until December, so the November election would be under the present interpretation of 208 . I think the Attorney replied he had not received a statement because he was checking to see if anything had been put on hold, not that the lawsuit was on hold. " 3 . Memo from City Manager regarding Proposed Changes to Election Procedures. City Manager Goss indicated he received a November 171 1997 memo from the City Attorney requesting staff assistance in studying a proposed residency requirement. Mr. Goss prepared a response regarding Geographic Residency which was distributed to the Commission today. Chair Dorso asked the City Manager to walk the Commission through the response. Mr. Goss gave a brief history of the change by local government to non-partisan, at large elections which was a prominent feature of the progressive era at the turn of the century. Mr. Goss noted there are a variety of at large election systems at t the local level, the most common of which are as follows: Charter Review Commission Minutes November 24 , 1997 Page 2 • True at Large. Found in most General Law cities in California. If there are two seats on the Council, all candidates run for those two seats and the highest two vote getters are elected. • Numbered Post. Two or more candidates run for one seat, and two or more candidates can run for a second seat, when there are two vacancies. This is basically Chula Vista's system which enables a candidate to run against a specific incumbent. • Geographic Residency. Candidates must live in the district they seek to represent, but voting is Citywide, which is designed to encourage individuals to live in different parts of the community. • Hybrid. Some cities have district primaries, with at large elections. Other cities have "mixed systems" where they elect some Councilmembers at large and some by district. The City Manager mentioned there was a lawsuit in the 1980's which unsuccessfully attacked Chula Vista's form of Council elections. John Goss questioned if there is a need to change the process from electing Councilmembers at large. by seat to electing them at large by geographic residency? Some of the questions the Commission may wish to consider are: 1. Have there been any problems created by electing City Council members at large by seat rather than geographic residency? 2 . Is there a bias in the conduct of City business based on geography? 3 . Would there be any issues or disadvantages to implementing a geographic residency requirement for those running for Council? (a) Are there any logical geographic boundaries in Chula Vista? , - Charter Review Commission Minutes November 24 , 1997 Page 3 (b) Would election by geographic residency be an intermediate step to true district elections? (c) Would a residency restriction discourage Councilmembers from moving to different locations within the city while they are serving on the City Council? John Goss displayed a map of Chula Vista and discussed in detail the historical residency of Councilmembers from 1982 . Under the proposal being considered, it was noted if the City is divided into four quadrants, it may not necessarily be logical geographic boundaries, they must only be contiguous and it would be up to Council to draw the lines. The boundaries would need to be readjusted, probably every 10 years, in order to avoid violating the one person, one vote rule. The City Attorney stated census tract data is used for the demographics in carving up the districts, but Chula Vista should not have a problem. The Commission found the map very informative and asked the Secretary to have copies made. Chair Dorso stated Mr. Goss's memo was a fundamental road map to guide the Commission's way and the contents needed to be studied in greater detail. Member Potter inquired if the City Manager was familiar with cities that are a hybrid. Mr. Goss believed there are some such as Vallejo and Oakland. He referred to information from the League of California Cities where only 29 cities out of approximately 480 cities in California elect Councilmembers by district and approximately 6 cities nominate by district but elect at large. The City Manager stated another alternative might be to expand the Council from five to seven members, which could work better than geographic residency. 4 . Comments regarding District Elections. (Covered above) 5. Report by City Attorney John M. Kaheny: Proposition 208. At the last meeting, more information was requested on the status of Proposition 208 . Attorney Kaheny discussed his November 21, 1997 Memorandum of Law regarding the Enforcement of Proposition 208 which was distributed with the agenda. It is currently before U.S. District Court Judge Karlton in Sacramento where several parts of the proposition are being challenged. The difficulty is the issue of prohibiting board members from taking part in Council campaigns when. they have been appointed by members sitting on the Council. The FPPC came out with a strong opinion interpreting it rather Charter Review Commission Minutes November 24 , 1997 Page 4 broadly. Not all the City Attorneys agree with the FPPC ruling. They do not have the force and effect of a court of law, but it has a chilling effect to go 'against their ruling because they can take you to court for violations. One of the problems the Judge has is portions of 208 are believed to clearly violate the Constitution, primarily the First Amendment, but he's trying to resolve the case without throwing the whole proposition into the mill. He wants a decision far enough ahead in the political process, but feels no matter what he rules, the losing side will probably appeal up to the Supreme Court. The City Attorney's office is trying to incorporate all of the 208 provisions into Chula Vista's campaign ordinance to bring it into compliance with what is currently California law. Mr. Kaheny notified all of the boards and commissions of the quandary involving political contributions. Mr. Kaheny will keep the Commission informed and expects a ruling by February or March, because any ruling after that would be catastrophic. Barbara McAllister commented that true independent expenditure committees have no restrictions. 6 . Public Comments. Bill Ayres stated he attended today's meeting because of his interest in redistricting. 7 . Members' Comments. David Potter apologized for missing the last meeting as his secretary calendared the date incorrectly. MSUC (Acton/Campbell) to cancel the December 1997 meeting. (Members Acton and McAllister left the meeting at 5: 15 p.m. ) John Dorso requested a copy of the City Manager's memo be sent to Jack Blakely prior to the next meeting. It was suggested the City Manager be invited to the January meeting. Chair Dorso wanted to see if the map used by the City Manager could be reduced and copies provided to the Commission members. 7 . Adjournment. MSUC (Potter/Prescott) to adjourn the meeting at 5 : 25 p.m. to the next meeting scheduled for January 19 , 1998 at 4 : 30 p.m. Lorraine Kraker, Secretary C:\crc\minute\11-24-97