BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1668|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1668
Author: Knight (R)
Amended: 5/24/10
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 5-0, 5/5/10
AYES: Cox, Aanestad, Kehoe, DeSaulnier, Price
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 4/15/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Local government: city councils
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill extends, 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. This bill
increases, from two to three, the number of city council
members in a newly incorporated city who hold office until
the second general municipal election after incorporation.
This bill also reduces, from three to two, the number of
city council members who hold office until the first
general municipal election.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/24/10 change gender-specific
city council references.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
CONTINUED
AB 1668
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1. Provides that if a vacancy occurs in an elective office,
the council shall, within 30 days from the commencement
of the vacancy, either fill the vacancy by appointment,
or call a special election to fill the vacancy.
2. Provides that in a newly incorporated city, of the five
elected city council members, the three receiving the
lowest number of votes shall hold office until the first
succeeding general municipal election and the two
receiving the highest number of votes shall hold office
until the second succeeding municipal election.
3. Provides that if the first general municipal election
following an incorporation election will occur less than
one year after the incorporation election, three of the
five elected city council members with the lowest number
of votes shall hold office until the second general
municipal election following the incorporation election
and the two city council members receiving the highest
number of votes shall hold office until the third
municipal election.
This bill extends the amount of time a city council has to
fill a vacancy and changes the number of city council
members that hold office following the first general
municipal election in a newly incorporated city that elects
council members at large. Specifically this bill:
1. Extends the amount of time that a city council has to
fill a vacancy in an elective city office, including the
office of mayor, from 30 days to 60 days from the date
of the vacancy.
2. Decreases the number of city council members in a newly
incorporated city that elects council members at large
that hold office until the first general municipal
election after incorporation from three to two and
increases the number of city council members that hold
office until the second general municipal election after
incorporation from two to three.
Comments
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This bill solves two problems for cities (1) faced with
vacant elective offices, city councils must either rush to
find acceptable replacements or pay for expensive
elections. In bigger cities, a month isn't enough time to
recruit and review residents who can serve as a city
treasurer, mayor, or council member. The alternative is to
call a costly election and, in the meantime, cope with the
vacancy, and (2) by assigning short terms of offices to the
majority of a new city's council, current law fails to
promote the political continuity that helps new cities
thrive. The bill improves coping and continuity among city
officials without overly diminishing public participation
in elections.
Prior Legislation
This bill is nearly identical to AB 18 (Knight), of 2009
which was vetoed. When Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed last
year's bill, the Governor states, "I believe 30 days is a
sufficient amount of time for a city council to fill a
vacant seat by appointment or to call a special election."
The veto message didn't object to adjusting new city
councils' terms of office.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/25/10)
California Association of Local Agency Formation
Commissions
Cities of Santa Rosa and Thousand Oaks
City Clerks Association of California
League of California Cities
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
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Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Villines, Yamada,
John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Adams, Block, DeVore, Evans, Jones,
Norby, Ruskin, Torrico, Tran, Vacancy
AGB:do 5/25/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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