BILL NUMBER: AB 278 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 18, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Roger Hernández
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
(Coauthor: Senator Hueso)
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
An act to amend Sections 34872, 34877, 34884, and 34886
of, to repeal Sections 34876 and 34877 of, and to
repeal and add Sections 34874 and 34875
of, 34876.5 and 34877.5 to, the Government Code,
relating to elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 278, as amended, Roger Hernández. Municipal elections.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city to submit
to voters at any municipal or special election an ordinance providing
for the election of members of the legislative body by districts,
from districts, by districts with an elective mayor, or from
districts with an elective mayor. Existing law also authorizes such
an ordinance to be submitted to the voters by means of an initiative
measure. Existing law requires that the ordinance
to state the number of legislative districts, describe the
boundaries of each, number the districts, and state the method for
electing the members of the legislative body, as described above.
This bill would delete the requirement that the ordinance describe
the boundaries, and number, of each legislative district and would
instead require the legislative body, or the proponents of
the initiative measure, body to prepare a
proposed map describing the boundaries and numbers of the legislative
districts after the ordinance is passed or enacted, as specified.
The bill would require a legislative body changing from a from
district method of election to a by district method of election, or
adjusting the district boundaries, to hold public hearings on the
change, as specified. The bill would also make numerous technical,
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Existing law applies certain procedures if a majority of votes on
the subject of incorporating a new city are in favor of incorporation
and in favor of a by district method of election, including, among
other things, requiring the boundaries of the districts of the
legislative body to be as nearly equal in population as possible.
This bill would also require the districts to comply with
the applicable provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act
of 1965.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city with a
population of fewer than 100,000 people to adopt an ordinance that
requires the members of the legislative body to be elected by
district or by district with an elective mayor without submitting the
ordinance for voter approval.
This bill would extend this authority to the legislative body of
any city, regardless of its population.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 34872 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
34872. An ordinance shall state the number of legislative
districts and whether members of the legislative body shall be
elected by districts, from districts, by districts with an elective
mayor, or from districts with an elective mayor.
SEC. 2. Section 34874 of the Government Code is
repealed.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. Section
34874 34876.5 is added to the Government Code,
to read:
34874. 34876.5. (a) If an ordinance
is submitted to the voters pursuant to Section 34871, there shall be
printed on the ballots substantially as follows:
"Shall members of the legislative body of the City of ____ be
elected by (or from) districts?"
or,
or, if applicable:
"Shall members of the legislative body of the City of ____ be
elected by (or from) districts, and the Mayor of the City of ____ be
elected on a citywide basis by the voters of the entire city?"
followed
followed by the words "Yes" and "No," so printed that the
voters may express their choice.
(b) If a majority of the voters voting on the proposed ordinance
vote in its favor, members of the legislative body shall be elected
in the manner approved by the voters beginning at the first election
following the approval of the district boundaries
pursuant to Section 34875. 34877.5.
SEC. 4. Section 34875 of the Government Code is
repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 34877 of the Government
Code is amended to read:
34877. The proposition of establishing or
altering legislative districts shall be printed on the ballots
substantially as follows:
"Shall members of the legislative body of the City of ____ be
elected by (or from) districts described in Ordinance No. ____?"
or, if applicable:
"Shall members of the legislative body of the City of ____ be
elected by (or from) districts described in Ordinance No. ____, and
the Mayor of the City of ____ be elected on a citywide basis by the
voters of the entire city?"
followed by the words "Yes" and "No," so printed that the voters may
express their choice.
SEC. 5. SEC. 4. Section
34875 34877.5 is added to the Government Code,
to read:
34875. 34877.5. (a) After an
ordinance is passed by the voters pursuant to Section 34874,
34876.5, or after an ordinance is enacted by
the legislative body pursuant to Section 34886, the legislative body
or the proponents of the initiative measure, as applicable,
shall prepare a proposed map that describes the boundaries
and numbers of the districts for the legislative body. In
preparing the proposed map, the legislative body may seek public
input, including accepting proposed maps submitted by the public.
(b) If the legislative body is changing from an at-large method of
election to a district-based election, as those terms are defined in
Section 14026 of the Elections Code, the legislative body shall,
pursuant to Section 10010 of the Elections Code, hold at least two
public hearings on the proposed district boundaries. If the
legislative body is otherwise adjusting the district boundaries, the
legislative body shall hold at least one public hearing on the
proposed district boundaries pursuant to Section 21607 of the
Elections Code.
(c) After completing the hearing process, the legislative body
shall submit the proposed district boundaries to the planning
commission of the city for an examination as to the definiteness and
certainty of the boundaries of the legislative districts proposed. If
the city does not have a planning commission, the legislative body
shall conduct the examination of the proposed boundaries.
(d) (1) The planning commission, or the legislative body, shall
reject the proposed boundaries if it finds any of the following:
(A) One or more of the legislative districts do not close.
(B) One or more entire legislative districts are eliminated before
the termination of the term of office of the council members of or
from the district.
(C) The effect is that a greater number of members of the
legislative body will be qualified to hold office concurrently than
are authorized by this article or the amendatory ordinance.
(2) If a substantial change to the proposed boundaries is
necessary to address the reason the proposed boundaries were rejected
pursuant to paragraph (1), the legislative body or the proponents of
the initiative measure, as applicable, shall begin anew the process
for approval of the proposed boundaries, starting with subdivision
(a). If a substantial change to the proposed boundaries is not
necessary to address the reason the proposed boundaries were rejected
pursuant to paragraph (2), the planning commission, or the
legislative body, may revise the proposed boundaries to address the
reason for rejection.
(e) The planning commission of the city or, in the absence of the
planning commission, the legislative body of the city, shall make
findings as to the matters set forth in subdivision (d) by resolution
within 90 days after submission of the amendatory ordinance to the
city clerk. Failure to make findings shall constitute a finding of
compliance with subdivision (d).
SEC. 6. Section 34876 of the Government Code is
repealed.
SEC. 7. Section 34877 of the Government Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. SEC. 5. Section 34884 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
34884. (a) If, at the time a vote is held on the subject of
incorporation of a new city, a majority of the votes cast is for
incorporation and, if, in accordance with Section 57116, a majority
of the votes cast on the question of whether members of the city
council in future elections are to be elected by district or at large
is in favor of election by district, all of the following procedures
apply:
(1) Before the first day on which voters may nominate candidates
for election at the next regular municipal election, the legislative
body shall, by ordinance or resolution, establish the boundaries of
the districts of the legislative body. The districts shall be as
nearly equal in population as may be. The districts shall comply with
the applicable provisions of the federal Voting
Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10301, et seq.), as amended. In
establishing the boundaries of the districts, the legislative body
may give consideration to consider the
following factors:
(A) Topography.
(B) Geography.
(C) Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of
territory.
(D) Community of interests of the districts.
(2) The terms of office of the two members elected with the lowest
vote shall expire on the Tuesday succeeding the next regular
municipal election. At that election, members shall be elected by
district in the even-numbered districts and shall hold office for
four years.
(3) The terms of office of the three members elected with the
highest vote shall expire on the Tuesday succeeding the second
regular municipal election following the incorporation. At that
election, members shall be elected by district in the odd-numbered
districts and shall hold office for four years.
(b) The result of the vote cast on the question of whether members
of the city council in future elections are to be elected by
district or at large shall not preclude the submission to the voters
at any future election of a measure in accordance with Section 34871.
SEC. 9. SEC. 6. Section 34886 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
34886. (a) Notwithstanding
Section 34871 or any other law, the legislative body of a city may
adopt an ordinance that requires the members of the legislative body
to be elected by district or by district with an elective mayor, as
described in subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 34871, without being
required to submit the ordinance to the voters for approval. An
ordinance adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall include a
declaration that the change in the method of electing members of the
legislative body is being made in furtherance of the purposes of the
California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with
Section 14025) of Division 14 of the Elections Code).
(b) For purposes of this section, the population of a city shall
be determined by the most recent federal decennial census.