[CRNMC] County Charter

Sun Nov 30 19:15:31 PST 2014

Dear Robin and All,
     Here is the CA Code on a county charter.
           Peace and blessings,  Ellen

34462. (a) A charter commission established for a city and county

pursuant to this chapter shall complete a proposed or amended charter

and submit the charter to the voters of the city and county within

two years of the date of the election of the charter commissioners,

and at the expiration of that period is abolished.

(b) A charter commission may submit portions of the proposed or

amended charter to the voters periodically.

 Any proposal to enact, amend, or otherwise revise a county charter by
initiative petition may be submitted to the board of supervisors and shall
be subject to this article. However, nothing in this article shall be
construed to allow a board of supervisors to enact, amend, or otherwise
revise a county charter without submitting the proposal to the voters. -
See more at: *http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9102#sthash.axFyop9Q.dpuf
<http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9102#sthash.axFyop9Q.dpuf>*

CAL. ELEC. CODE § 9102 : California Code - Section 9102 - See more at:
*http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9102#sthash.axFyop9Q.dpuf
<http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9102#sthash.axFyop9Q.dpuf>*

 The notice of intention shall contain the printed name, signature, and
business or residence address of at least one but not more than five
proponents, and may include a printed statement, not exceeding 500 words in
length, stating the reasons for the proposed petition. The notice shall be
in substantially the following form:

(a) The county elections official shall immediately transmit a copy of any
proposed measure to the county counsel. Within 15 days after the proposed
measure is filed, the county counsel shall provide and return to the county
elections official a ballot title and summary for the proposed measure. The
ballot title may differ from any other title of the proposed measure and
shall express in 500 words or less the purpose of the proposed measure. In
providing the ballot title, the county counsel shall give a true and
impartial statement of the purpose of the proposed measure in such language
that the ballot title shall neither be an argument, nor be likely to create
prejudice, for or against the proposed measure.

(b) The county elections official shall furnish a copy of the ballot title
and summary to the proponents of the proposed measure. The proponents
shall, prior to the circulation of the petition, publish the Notice of
Intention, and the ballot title and summary of the proposed measure in a
newspaper of general circulation published in that county, and file proof
of publication with the county elections official.

(c) The ballot title and summary prepared by the county counsel shall
appear upon each section of the petition, above the text of the proposed
measure and across the top of each page of the petition on which signatures
are to appear, in roman boldface type not smaller than 12 point. The ballot
title and summary shall be clearly separated from the text of the measure.
The text of the measure shall be printed in type not smaller than 8 point.

The heading of the proposed measure shall be in substantially the following
form:

 Initiative Measure to be Submitted Directly to the Voters

The county counsel has prepared the following title and summary of the
chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:

(Here set forth the title and summary prepared by the county counsel. This
title and summary must also be printed across the top of each page of the
petition whereon signatures are to appear.)

   -

   See more at:
*http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9105#sthash.4OTQVDye.dpuf
   <http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9105#sthash.4OTQVDye.dpuf>*

CAL. ELEC. CODE § 9105 : California Code - Section 9105 - See more at:
*http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9105#sthash.4OTQVDye.dpuf
<http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9105#sthash.4OTQVDye.dpuf>*

 a) During the circulation of the petition or before taking either action
described in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 9116, or Section 9118, the
board of supervisors may refer the proposed initiative measure to any
county agency or agencies for a report on any or all of the following:

(1) Its fiscal impact.

(2) Its effect on the internal consistency of the county's general and
specific plans, including the housing element, the consistency between
planning and zoning, and the limitations on county actions under Section
65008 of the Government Code and Chapters 4.2 (commencing with Section
65913) and 4.3 (commencing with Section 65915) of Division 1 of Title 7 of
the Government Code.

(3) Its effect on the use of land, the impact on the availability and
location of housing, and the ability of the county to meet its regional
housing needs.

(4) Its impact on funding for infrastructure of all types, including, but
not limited to, transportation, schools, parks, and open space. The report
may also discuss whether the measure would be likely to result in increased
infrastructure costs or savings, including the costs of infrastructure
maintenance, to current residents and businesses.

(5) Its impact on the community's ability to attract and retain business
and employment.

(6) Its impact on the uses of vacant parcels of land.

(7) Its impact on agricultural lands, open space, traffic congestion,
existing business districts, and developed areas designated for
revitalization.

(8) Any other matters the board of supervisors request to be in the report.

(b) The report shall be presented to the board of supervisors within the
time prescribed by the board of supervisors, but no later than 30 days
after the county elections official certifies to the board of supervisors
the sufficiency of the petition.

   -

   *http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9111#sthash.miTcOTv9.dpuf
   <http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9111#sthash.miTcOTv9.dpuf>*
   -

   CAL. ELEC. CODE § 9111 : California Code - Section 9111 - See more at:
   http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9111#sthash.miTcOTv9.dpuf

 Notice of Intention to Circulate Petition

Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their
intention to circulate the petition within the County of ____ for the
purpose of ____. A statement of the reasons of the proposed action as
contemplated in the petition is as follows: (optional statement).

   -

   See more at:
*http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9104#sthash.nt6NDVg9.dpuf
   <http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9104#sthash.nt6NDVg9.dpuf>*

CAL. ELEC CODE § 9104 : California Code - Section 9104 - See more at:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/ELEC/1/d9/2/1/s9104#sthash.nt6NDVg9.dpuf

On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 11:54 PM, <bodhirobin at pacific.net> wrote:

> Also, I spoke to Norm DeVall.
> He said when
> he was a county supervisor, that he wanted to get a charter
> going
> but couldn't recruit enough support from others, but it never got off the
> ground.
> Norm said that he had communicated with the people who had
> been involved with
> the previous charter effort back in the '50's.
> It lost by 1 vote.
>
> Norm said the "Big 4" always
> oppose it.
> 1) The North Coast Builders Exchange
> 2) The
> Employers Council
> 3) Farm Bureau
> 4) Board of Realtors
>
> Norm said they asked for an "Economic Impact Report" before
> putting a charter on
> the ballot.  He suggests we find out if we will
> need one, or that was an obstacle
> invented by the Big 4.
>
> Norm wants to have a dinner at his house in Elk with 6 advocates of a
> county charter.
> He also wants to know more about the public bank.  He
> asked who could tell him more.
> I said I could but I think he needs
> to hear it from someone more authoritative than me.
> Maybe Marc
> Armstrong?  Locally, no one knows more about it than me, Ellen or
> Agnes.
>
> It looks like the CA Government Code states that 2
> things go on the
> ballot together.  One is the charter question
> stated in GC34453, and
> the other are the individuals who are running
> for election to the
> Charter Commission.
>
> Each person
> running for the Charter Commission has to get on the ballot
> the same
> way I got on the ballot to run for Assessor, with a petition
> of
> voters' signatures.  If the charter question fails, it doesn't matter
> who got elected to the Commission.  But if the charter question
> passes
> with 50% +1 votes, then the 15 best voted candidates become
> Commissioners.
>
> Sounds like a bonanza of fees to the county,
> having a ballot measure and
> 15+ candidates all paying fees to run
> for election.  The statute does say
> that the government has to foot
> the bill for the election.
>
> It keeps
> saying "for a city or a city and county."  Nothing here
> mentions a county alone.  I wonder if these are the wrong statues?
>
> In Peace, Robin
>
>
> 34450.  Any city or city and county may enact, amend, or repeal a
> charter for its own government according to this article or
> Article 3 (commencing with Section 9255) of Chapter 3 of
> Division
> 9 of the Elections Code.  34451.  The charter may be
> proposed by a
> charter commission chosen by the voters of the city
> or city and
> county, at any general or special election, but no
> person shall be
> eligible as a candidate for the commission unless
> he or she is a
> registered voter of the city or city and county.
>
> 34452.  (a)
> An election for choosing charter commissioners may be
> called by a
> majority vote of the governing body of a city or city
> and county, or
> on presentation of a
> petition signed by not less
> than 15 percent of the registered voters
> of the city or city and
> county. The petition shall be
> verified by the authority having charge
>  of the registration
> records of the city or city and county and the
> expenses of the
> verification shall be provided by the governing body
> thereof. The
> governing body shall call an election pursuant to
> Sections 1000 and
> 10403 of the Elections Code.
> (b) If any vacancy arises in a
> charter commission established for a
> city or city and county
> pursuant to this chapter, the vacancy shall
> be filled by an
> appointment by the mayor of the city or city and
> county.
>
> 34453.  At an election the voters shall vote first on the question
> "Shall a charter commission be elected to propose a new
> charter?" and,
> secondly, for the candidates of the office of
> charter commissioner.
> If the first question receives a majority of
> the votes of the qualified
> voters voting thereon at the election,
> the 15 candidates for the office
> of charter commissioner receiving
> the highest number of votes shall
> forthwith organize as a charter
> commission. However, if the first
> question receives less than a
> majority of the votes of the qualified
> voters voting thereon at the
> election no charter commission shall be
> deemed to have been elected.
>
>
> 34454.  Candidates for the office of charter commissioner
> shall be
> nominated either in the same manner provided for the
> nomination of
> officers of the municipal or city and county
> government, or by
> petition substantially in the same manner provided
> by general laws
> for the nomination by petition of candidates for
> public offices to
> be voted for at general elections.
>
>
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