BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 952 |Hearing |7/1/15 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Author: |Cristina Garcia |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |4/20/15 |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Lewis |
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CITY COUNCILS: VACANCIES
Provides an alternative procedure for filling a vacancy on a
city council that occurs in the first half of the term of
office.
Background and Existing Law
State law outlines certain criteria for determining when a
public office become vacant, including death, absence without
leave, removal from office, felony convictions, and resignation.
The procedures for filling vacancies on local governmental
bodies differ depending on the type of local government in
question. The Constitution gives charter cities wide latitude
to establish their own rules for filling vacancies on their
governing bodies, and the state's 121 charter cities employ a
range of different procedures for doing so; general law cities
are subject to the general laws passed by the Legislature.
When a spot becomes vacant on the city council of a general law
city, current law gives the city council 60 days from the start
of a vacancy to either appoint someone to fill the position or
call a special election (AB 1668, Knight, 2010). If a general
law city's city council chooses to call a special election to
fill a vacancy, the election must be held on the next regularly
established election date that is at least 114 days away from
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when the election is called. A city councilmember who is
elected or appointed to fill a vacancy holds office for the rest
of term of the former officeholder, regardless of how much time
is left in the term for that vacant office. For example, if a
city council member resigns in the first months of a 4-year
term, existing law would 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.
Under current law, general law cities also have the option of
using alternative procedures to fill a vacant public office if
they enact an ordinance that either:
Requires a special election to fill every city council
vacancy and the office of mayor to be called
immediately-rather than within 60 days from the time of the
vacancy; or
Requires a special election to be held to fill a city
council vacancy and the office of mayor upon the filing of
petitions bearing a specified number of verified
signatures.
Under either alternative procedure, state law requires a special
election to be held no sooner than 114 days from the call of the
special election or the filing of the petition.
Special elections can be costly to taxpayers: for example, a
Sacramento city council special election earlier this year cost
approximately $200,000. Some critics assert that general law
cities face a Catch-22 in the event of a city council vacancy
early in the officeholder's term, in which they either must call
a special election at taxpayers' expense, or appoint a successor
to serve for the full duration of the original officeholder's
term.
In most other cases where state law allows local governments to
fill a vacancy on its governing body by appointment-such as in
the case of vacancies on the governing board of school districts
and other special districts-appointments are temporary if they
occur early in the term of office. Proponents of AB 952 propose
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changing the procedure for filling vacancies in elective city
offices to make them similar to the procedure for filling
vacancies on the governing boards of most special districts.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 952 repeals a requirement that a person appointed
to fill a vacant city elective office for the unexpired term of
the former incumbent.
Instead, AB 952 establishes the following procedure when a city
council vacancy occurs (unless a council adopts an alternative
ordinance as authorized pursuant to existing law):
If the council calls a special election, the special
election shall be held on the next regularly established
election date not less than 114 days from the call of the
special election. A person elected to fill a vacancy holds
office for the unexpired term of the former incumbent.
If the council fills the vacancy by appointment, the
person appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office
pursuant to one of the following:
o If the vacancy occurs in the first half of a
term of office and at least 130 days prior to the next
general municipal election, the person appointed to
fill the vacancy shall hold office until the next
general municipal election that is scheduled 130 or
more days after the date the council is notified of
the vacancy, and thereafter until the person who is
elected at that election to fill the vacancy has been
qualified. The person elected to fill the vacancy
shall hold office for the unexpired balance of the
term of office; or,
o If the vacancy occurs in the first half of a
term of office, but less than 130 days prior to the
next general municipal election, or if the vacancy
occurs in the second half of a term of office, the
person appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office
for the unexpired term of the former incumbent.
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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.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill. When a city elective office is vacant,
a city council has two options: 1) to call a special election to
fill the vacancy; or 2) fill the vacancy by appointment. But
calling a special election can be prohibitively expensive,
especially for smaller cities. Furthermore, appointments
deprive the voters of the ability to choose their
representative, especially when appointees get to serve out more
than half of the remainder of the original officeholder's term.
Appointees may not face an election for years, by which time
some will have already gained the advantage of being an
"incumbent." AB 952 reasonably limits the duration that an
appointee can serve without having to stand for election to half
a term, thereby making appointees more democratically
accountable. In addition, requiring that the special election
be held at the next general municipal election will usually
result in higher voter participation, at less cost to taxpayers,
than a stand-alone special election.
2. Nice, but not necessary. AB 952 would allow voters to
have a greater influence over whether city council
appointees stay in office for the remainder of the original
officeholder's term. However, even in the event of a
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vacancy(s) a city council's remaining members are already
accountable to voters through the democratic process, and
their votes on appointments are conducted in public.
Therefore, it is unclear whether state law needs to be
changed to authorize special elections to be held earlier,
when citizens who are dissatisfied with the appointment of
a replacement councilmember can express their
dissatisfaction with the original councilmembers who voted
for the appointee.
3. Charter cities. The California Constitution authorizes
cities to adopt charters. Charter cities have greater autonomy
over local affairs than general law cities do, including plenary
authority, subject to limited restrictions, to provide for the
manner in which and the method by which municipal officers are
elected. As mentioned above, this bill would apply to all
general law cities (unless they adopt an alternative ordinance
as outlined above). But because The Constitution provides that
properly adopted city charters "shall supersede all laws
inconsistent" with the charter, AB 952 will only apply to
charter cities whose charters do not provide a procedure for
filling city council vacancies.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government 8-0
Assembly Elections and Redistricting 7-0
Assembly Floor 74-0
Support and
Opposition (6/25/15)
Support : California Common Cause.
Opposition : Unknown.
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