BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1344
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Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1344 (Feuer and Alejo) - As Amended: April 25, 2011
SUBJECT : Local governance.
SUMMARY : Requires a city charter proposal or amendments to a
city charter to be submitted to the voters for approval or
rejection at an established statewide general election date,
among other provisions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a city charter or amendments to a city charter
proposed by a charter commission to be submitted to the voters
at an established statewide general election date.
2)Authorizes the governing body of a city to submit a charter
proposal, amendments to a charter, repeal of a charter, or
recodification of a charter, whether proposed by the governing
body or by petition, to the voters for adoption at the next
established statewide general election date provided there are
at least 88 days before the election.
3)Requires a proposal to adopt or amend a city charter to
include in the ballot description an enumeration of new city
powers that would result with the adoption of the charter,
including, but not limited to, whether the city council will
have the power to raise its own compensation and the
compensation of other city officials without voter approval
under the charter.
4)Prohibits, on or after January 2, 2012, any contract executed
or renewed between a city; county; charter city; charter
county; town; school district; municipal corporation;
district; political subdivision; any board, commission or
agency thereof; or other local public agency (local agency)
and an excluded employee from including an automatic renewal
of contract, an automatic increase in compensation that
exceeds a cost-of-living adjustment, an automatic increase in
compensation that is linked to another contract, and a maximum
cash settlement that exceeds the amounts provided for in
statutory provisions governing employment contracts.
5)Requires a local agency, before increasing the compensation of
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an excluded employee, to complete a performance review of the
excluded employee.
6)Requires a local agency to conform to the requirements of law,
including, but not limited to, the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown
Act) and the Public Records Act.
7)Defines compensation to mean any of the following:
a) Annual salary or stipend;
b) A local agency's payments to the filer's deferred
compensation or defined benefit plans;
c) Automobile and equipment allowances;
d) Supplemental incentive and bonus payments; and,
e) A local agency's payments to the filer that are in
excess of the standard benefits the local agency offers for
all other employees.
8)Defines excluded employee to mean any person who is or will be
employed by, and report directly to, the legislative body of a
local agency and who is not subject to the Meyers-Milias-Brown
Act, and includes any person who performs governmental duties
for a local agency pursuant to a contract with that local
agency and any person who is considered an
at-will employee.
9)Requires an employee or officer of a local agency who is
convicted of a crime involving an abuse of his or her office
or position to pay restitution to the local agency that
expended public funds for the legal defense of that officer or
employee.
10)Requires the legislative body of a local agency to post at
least 72 hours in advance the agenda for a regular meeting on
the local agency's Internet Web site if the local agency has
one.
11)Requires the legislative body of a local agency to post at
least 24 hours in advance the notice and agenda for a special
meeting on the local agency's Internet Web site if the local
agency has one.
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12)Requires the legislative body of a local agency to post at
least one hour in advance the notice for an emergency meeting
on the local agency's Internet Web site if the local agency
has one. If Internet services are not functioning, the notice
requirements for an emergency meeting are deemed waived.
13)Requires the legislative body of a local agency to post at or
near the time the presiding officer or designee notifies the
members of the legislative body of the emergency meeting the
notice for a dire emergency meeting on the local agency's
Internet Web site if the local agency has one. If Internet
services are not functioning, the notice requirements for a
dire emergency meeting are deemed waived.
14)Declares these provisions are a statewide concern and apply
to all counties and cities, including charter counties,
charter cities, and charter cities and counties.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits any city or city and county to enact, amend, or repeal
a charter for its own government.
2)Requires the following city or city and county charter
proposals to be submitted to the voters at either a special
election called for that purpose, at any established municipal
election date, or at any established election date, pursuant
to current law, provided that there are at least 88 days
before the election:
a) A charter proposed by a charter commission (commission),
whether elected or appointed by a governing body.
b) An amendment or repeal of a charter proposed by the
governing body of a city or a city and county on its own
motion.
c) An amendment or repeal of a city charter proposed by a
petition signed by 15 percent of the registered voters of
the city.
d) An amendment or repeal of a city and county charter
proposed by a petition signed by 10 percent of the
registered voters of the city and county.
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e) A recodification of the charter proposed by the
governing body on its own motion, provided that the
recodification does not in any manner substantially change
the provisions of the charter.
3)Requires a city charter proposal prepared by the charter
commission, after it has been filed in the office of the clerk
of the governing body of the city, to be submitted to the
voters of the city at either a special election called within
14 days by the governing body for that purpose to be conducted
at least 95 days after the date the special election is called
or at the next established municipal election date or at the
next established statewide election date, provided there are
at least 95 days before the election.
4)Authorizes, as an alternative, the governing body of any city,
on its own motion, to propose or cause to be proposed, amend
or cause to be amended, or repeal or cause to be repealed a
charter and to submit the proposal for adoption, or the
amendments or repeal thereof, to the voters at either a
special election called for that purpose or at any established
municipal election date or at any established election date,
provided there are at least 88 days before the election.
5)Provides for the content and format of the petition for
submission to voters of proposed amendments to a charter of
the city or city and county.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
AB 1344 is aimed at restoring trust in local government
that was badly damaged by actions in the City of Bell and
elsewhere over recent years. The scandal surrounding the
City of Bell last year exposed deficiencies in existing law
that must be addressed to ensure greater transparency and
so that voters have confidence that taxpayer dollars are
being used wisely. This bill targets practices exploited
by some local governments that inappropriately and even
extravagantly rewarded elected officials and top executives
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outside of public view. AB 1344 requires basic good
governance measures be followed as they relate to
compensation practices and provides that, to the maximum
extent feasible, the public should be informed and provided
with an opportunity to comment on local compensation
setting practices.
2)City of Bell : Last September, eight current and former Bell
city officials, including four of the five sitting city
council members at the time, were arrested and charged with
multiple counts of misappropriating public funds and
defrauding taxpayers of roughly $5.5 million. Several news
reports that came out during that time exposed conduct by the
city council that, though sometimes in compliance with state
law, inappropriately compensated councilmembers and city
officials. The City of Bell used the authority granted under
current law to quickly pass a charter that granted them the
ability to govern their own municipal affairs. This bill,
according to the author, will revise provisions in current law
that allowed the council members to use their positions and
authority for personal gain.
3)Charters : The California Constitution recognizes two types of
cities and counties: general law and charter. General law
cities and counties are required to adhere to state law.
Charter cities and counties have specified authority over
municipal affairs. Only 120 of the state's cities are charter
cities, and only 14 of the state's counties are charter
counties.
4)Home Rule . As noted above, the California Constitution gives
cities the power to become charter cities. The benefit of
becoming a charter city is charter cities have supreme
authority over "municipal affairs." In other words, a charter
city's law concerning a municipal affair will trump a state
law governing the same topic. Personnel matters for the most
part are deemed a "municipal affair" and are under the
authority of the charter entity. This authority is commonly
referred to as the 'Home Rule,' which is based on the
principle that a city, rather than the state, is in the best
position to know what it needs and how to satisfy those needs.
In light of the authority given to charter cities, the author
notes that the decision to convert a general law city to a
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charter city is important, but its importance may not be
apparent to voters. As such, this bill will require a
proposal to adopt a charter to include in the ballot
description, which is circulated to voters in the voter's
pamphlet, an enumeration of new city powers as a result of the
adoption of the charter.
5)Charter Proposals and Amendments : City charter and city
charter amendment proposals can originate in one of three
fashions: a charter commission, the governing body of the
city, or by a petition of the voters. For a charter
commission, the proposed charter is required to be submitted
to the voters of the city at either a special election called
within 14 days by the governing body for that purpose to be
conducted at least 95 days after the date the special election
is called, or at the next established municipal election date
or at the next established election date, provided there are
at least 95 days before the election. A governing body, on
its own motion, is authorized to propose or cause to be
proposed, amend or cause to be amended, or repeal or cause to
be repealed, a charter and to submit the proposal to the
voters at either a special election called for that purpose or
at any established municipal election date or at any
established election date, provided there are at least 88 days
before the election. Petitions from voters for a charter
proposal are submitted to the city council for placement on
the ballot at an election on a date to be determined by the
city council.
6)Low Turnout Elections : Several factors contribute to voter
turnout in an election, such as the weather, content of the
election, and timing. However, it is very common for local
elections that are not consolidated with statewide elections
to have lower voter turnouts. When charter proposals and
amendments go before the voters in local elections, it is more
likely that voter participation will be low.
According to media reports, the City of Bell seemingly
intentionally scheduled their election for its charter
proposal on a date not likely to garner much participation
from voters. The special municipal election called for the
purposes of voting on the charter happened on November 29,
2005 - just 5 days after Thanksgiving. It was the only item
on the ballot, and was promoted by city officials as a change
that would give the city more local control. The ballot
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language included no mention of the effect the change would
have on council members' salaries. Fewer than 400 voters
turned out in the city of over 36,000 residents.
This bill would require charter proposal and amendments,
regardless of their origination, to go before the voters at
the next statewide general election, which will likely result
in higher voter participation in the vote on the proposal or
amendment.
7)Technical Amendment : To correct an inadvertent omission
regarding the number of days required before an election in
which a charter proposed by a charter commission may be
submitted to the voters, the committee recommends the
following technical amendment:
On page 4, line 2 of the bill, after "1200" insert: ",
provided that there are at least 95 days before the
election"
8)Arguments in Support : California Common Cause, in support of
this bill, notes that, "the Los Angeles Times discovered the
corruption in Bell by chance, but this bill will help us
prevent this kind of wrongdoing in those areas of the state
where investigative reporting is harder to find." In addition
Common Cause argues that important votes, like the ones for a
city charter, should be held during elections with the highest
voter turnout.
9)Double-Referral : On April 27, 2011, this bill was approved by
the Assembly Local Government Committee on a 7-2 vote. This
analysis discusses, at length, provisions of this bill that
are under the jurisdiction of this committee only. For a full
discussion on other provisions, please see the Local
Government Committee analysis.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Common Cause
Opposition
None on file.
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Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094