BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 952
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Chair
AB 952
(Cristina Garcia) - As Amended April 20, 2015
SUBJECT: Local government: vacancies.
SUMMARY: Requires, if a city council fills a vacancy in an
elective city office by appointment and that vacancy occurs
before a specified time during the first half of the term of
office, that a special election be held to fill the remainder of
the term. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that if a city council fills a vacancy in an elective
city office by appointment, and the vacancy occurs in the
first half of the term of office and at least 130 days prior
to the next general municipal election, that a special
election shall be held at that general municipal election for
the unexpired term of the former incumbent.
2)Provides that the person who was appointed to fill the vacancy
shall hold office until the person who is elected to fill the
vacancy has been qualified.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Requires a city council, within 60 days of a vacancy in an
elective city office, to fill that vacancy by appointment or
by calling a special election to fill the vacancy.
a) Requires, if the council calls a special election, that
the special election be held on the next regularly
established election date that is not less than 114 days
from the call of the special election.
b) Provides that a person who is elected or appointed to
fill a vacancy holds office for the unexpired term of the
former incumbent.
2)Permits a city to enact an ordinance to require one of the
following procedures to govern the filling of vacancies in
elective city offices:
a) Requires a special election to be called immediately to
fill every city council vacancy and the office of mayor.
Requires the special election to be held on the next
regularly established election date not less than 114 days
from the call of the special election.
b) Requires a special election be held to fill a city
council vacancy and the office of mayor when petitions
bearing a specified number of verified signatures are
filed. Requires the special election to be held on the
next regularly established election date not less than 114
days from the filing of the petition. Permits a city
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council in a city that has adopted this procedure to call a
special election to fill the vacancy without waiting for
the filing of a petition.
c) Provides that a person appointed to fill a vacancy on
the city council shall hold office only until the date of a
special election which shall immediately be called to fill
the remainder of the term. Permits the special election to
be held on the date of the next regularly established
election or regularly scheduled municipal election to be
held throughout the city not less than 114 days from the
call of the special election.
3)Permits a city to provide for its own governance through the
adoption of a charter by a majority vote of its electors
voting on the question.
4)Permits a city charter to provide for the conduct of city
elections. Grants plenary authority, subject to limited
restrictions, for a city's charter to provide for the manner
in which and the method by which municipal officers are
elected.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
When a vacancy is created at a city council they have
two options: 1) to call a special election to fill the
vacancy or 2) fill the vacancy by appointment. The
problem lies in that sometimes calling a special
election is cost prohibitive, and in those situations
appointments are made, it deprives the voters of the
ability to choose their representative. The appointees
may not face an election for years and by then, they
have already gained the advantage of being an
"incumbent".
AB 952 would allow local governments the ability to
hold an election, allowing voters to participate in
the process, at the next regularly scheduled election.
The appointee, if they wish to continue in their
position would be placed on the ballot, to be
essentially confirmed by voters to complete the
remainder of their term
2)Filling of Vacancies in Local Government Bodies: State law
contains different procedures for filling vacancies on local
governmental bodies depending on the type of local government
in question. For example, vacancies on the boards of
supervisors of general law counties are filled by
gubernatorial appointment, while vacancies at other levels of
local government (including for cities, school districts, and
special districts) typically can be filled by appointment or
by a special election, at the discretion of the remaining
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members of the governing body on which there is a vacancy.
Charter counties and charter cities are able to establish
their own rules for filling vacancies on their governing
bodies, and employ a range of different procedures for doing
so.
In most cases where state law allows a vacancy on the governing
body of a local government to be filled by appointment, that
appointment is temporary in situations where the vacancy
occurs early in the term of office. For example, when the
Governor appoints a person to fill a vacancy on a county board
of supervisors, that person holds office only until the next
statewide general election unless the term for the vacant
office is scheduled to expire shortly after the next statewide
general election. Similarly, laws allowing for appointments
to fill vacancies on the governing boards of school districts
and special districts generally provide that those
appointments are temporary, and last only until the next
general district election, in situations where the vacancy
occurs early in the term of office. (Generally, those laws
apply when the vacancy occurs prior to the half-way point of
the term of office, and sufficiently in advance of the next
general district election such that there is time to add the
special vacancy election to the ballot at that general
district election.) By allowing vacancies to be filled on a
temporary basis by appointment, these laws allow local
governments to avoid the costs of a standalone special
election while allowing vacancies to be filled by the
electorate at the next election where voters in that
jurisdiction are otherwise scheduled to vote on matters
relating to that jurisdiction.
When a vacancy in an elective city office is filled by
appointment, however, existing law permits the appointee to
remain in office for the remainder of the term, regardless of
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how much time remains in the term for that vacant office. For
example, if a city council member resigned in the first month
of a 4-year term, existing law could allow the remaining
members of the city council to appoint someone to serve the 3
years and 11 months remaining on the term, without the need
for a special election at the next general municipal election.
General law cities can choose to adopt an ordinance requiring
a special election to be held in those circumstances, but they
are not required to do so.
This bill would adopt a procedure for filling vacancies in
elective city offices that is similar to the procedure that
applies for filling vacancies on the governing boards of most
special districts. Under that procedure, if a vacancy in
office occurs during the first half of a term of office, and
at least 130 days prior to the next general district election,
the district has the option of appointing someone to fill the
vacancy, but that appointment is temporary, and a special
election is held at the same time as the next general district
election to fill the remainder of the term. This bill would
not affect the ability that city councils have under existing
law, however, to adopt an alternative procedure, as detailed
above, that governs the filling of vacancies in elective city
office.
3)Charter Cities and General Law Cities: As noted above, the
California Constitution gives cities the ability to adopt
charters, which give those jurisdictions greater autonomy over
local affairs. Of California's 482 cities, 121 are charter
cities. The state's 361 general law cities are subject to the
general laws passed by the Legislature.
The Constitution gives a great deal of autonomy to charter
cities over the rules governing the election of municipal
officers, granting "plenary authority," subject to limited
restrictions, for a city charter to provide "the manner in
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which, the method by which, the times at which, and the terms
for which the several municipal officers and employees?shall
be elected or appointed." The Constitution further provides
that properly adopted city charters "shall supersede all laws
inconsistent" with the charter.
The provisions of this bill would apply to all general law
cities (unless they adopt an alternative ordinance as outlined
above) and to any charter city that does not stipulate in its
charter the procedure for filling vacancies on the city
council.
4)Previous Legislation: AB 1668 (Knight), Chapter 38, Statutes
of 2010, extended, from 30 to 60 days, the time for a city
council to fill a vacancy by either appointing a replacement
or calling a special election.
5)Double-Referral: On April 15, 2015, this bill was heard and
approved by the Assembly Committee on Local Government on an
8-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094