and good friend over the last 10 years. Larry recently just
wrote a quick blog for the other blog....we write for:
www.orangejuiceblog.com which is a high volume blog that was
developed by Art Pedroza.
At any rate, Larry wrote this interesting article regarding
whether or not his town of Mission Viejo should change from
a General Law City to a Charter City...much like that of
Newport Beach. For those who don't know the difference...
this might be an important understanding.
Larry's article:
September 24, 2009
www.orangejuiceblog.com
Should Mission Viejo switch from a General Law to a Charter
form of city government?
Posted by: Larry Gilbert : Category: Fresh Juice
At the Sept 21st meeting of the Mission Viejo city
council a council member asked the city attorney if
Charter Cities are immune from government raiding.
This was triggered by our general law form of
government and their discussion of the pending “taking”
of city funds to help the state government keep the
bill collectors at bay.
With that question comes a long list of financial
and legal questions that I will try to tackle with this
post. As there are 21 characteristics for comparison
I will limit this post to 8 of them which I feel
provide areas for discussion.
Before providing the list let me state that this
topic and comparison is generally not covered in the
media. Therefore let me state that “the essential
differences between the two types of cities is that
having a charter gives cities more local authority
over municipal affairs. Charter cities are able to
customize operations to meet the unique needs of the
community, while general law cities are dependent
on the state legislature for their power.”
Form of Government.
GENERAL LAW CITY. State law describes the city’s
form of government. For example, Government Code
Section 36501 authorizes general law cities be governed
by a city council of five members, a city clerk, a
city treasurer, a police chief, and any subordinate
officers or employees as required by law. City electors
may adopt ordinance which provides for a different
number of council members. Cal. Gov’t section 34871.
The Government Code also authorizes the “city manager”
form of government.
CHARTER CITY. Charter can provide any form of
government including the “strong mayor,” and “city
manager” forms.
Elections Generally
GENERAL LAW Municipal elections conducted in accordance
with the California Elections Code.
CHARTER CITY. Not bound by the California Elections
Code. May establish own election dates, rules and
procedures.
Public Funds for Candidates in Municipal Elections
GENERAL LAW CITY. No public officer shall expend and
no candidate shall accept public money for the purpose
of seeking elected office.
CHARTER CITY. Public financing of election campaigns
is lawful.
Vacancies and Termination of Office
GENERAL LAW. An office becomes vacant in several
instances including death, resignation, removal for
failure to perform official duties, electorate
irregularities, absence from meetings without permission,
and upon non-residency.
CHARTER CITY. May establish criteria for vacating
and terminating city offices so long as it does not
violate the state and federal constitutions.
Council Member Compensation
(and Expense Reimbursement)
GENERAL LAW. Salary-ceiling is set by city population
and salary increases set by state law except for
compensation established by city electors.
CHARTER CITY. May establish council members’ salaries.
Public Contracts
GENERAL LAW. Competitive bidding required for public
works contracts over $5,000. Such contracts must be
awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If city
elects subject itself to uniform construction accounting
procedures, less formal procedures may be available for
contracts less than $100,000.
CHARTER CITY. Not required to comply with bidding
statutes provided the city charter or a city ordinance
exempts the city from such statutes, and the subject
matter of the bid constitutes a municipal affair.
Finance and Taxing Power
GENERAL LAW CITY. May impose the same kinds of taxes
and assessments as charter cities.
CHARTER CITY. Have the power to tax. Have broader
assessment powers than a general law city, as well as
taxation power as determined on a case-by-case basis.
May proceed under a general assessment law, or enact
local assessment laws and then elect to proceed under
the local law.
Zoning
GENERAL LAW CITY. Zoning ordinances must be consistent
with general plan.
CHARTER CITY. Zoning ordinances are not required
to be consistent with general plan unless the city
has adopted a consistency requirement by charter or
ordinance.
Gilbert comments. Changing your
form of government from General Law to a Charter City
is like taking your children to a candy store. By law
the compensation of city council members in general
law cities is capped to population. This became a big
issue in Mission Viejo as our council recently
awarded themselves a sizable increase in their monthly
stipend as covered previously. This alone opens
Pandora’s Box for our city where they would love to
create full time posts at $100,000 each.
It is worth pointing out that “all of California’s
10 most populous cities are charter cities” including
Anaheim and Santa Ana in Orange County. At last count
379 of our 463 cities are general law.
Some related issues include your choice of full time
v. part time council and mayor and the powers and
compensation he or she assumes.
i.e. “Relationship of Full-time Mayor and
Structure of Government
While it is true that California cities with a strong
mayor form of government have full-time mayors
(e.g., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, Oakland),
it is also true that a city can have a full-time
mayor without having a strong mayor form of
government. The Cities of San Diego, San Jose, and
Long Beach have full-time mayors who operate under
the council-manager form of government.
Though there are variations within each of these
two basic structures of government, the fundamental
difference is whether or not the mayor serves as the
chief administrative officer of the city. In the
council-manager form of government, the mayor and
council establish policies and a professional, hired
city manager administers the policies. In the strong
mayor structure, the council establishes policy and
the mayor is the chief administrative officer of the
city.”
As indicated by the above details there is much to
consider before making this change at any city where
the initial election costs will surely exceed $250,000.
=======================*Winship Comments:
Special thanks to Larry Gilbert for a fantastic short
version article of CA City Government. Excellent!
Secondly, we have been tauting an Elected Mayor in
Newport Beach for 15 years. It came on the heals of
the passage of Term Limits...which we also supported
strongly. Now, we need to pass a Special Election
provision to the Newport Beach Charter...in the event
that any of our currently "selected but not elected"
City Council people decide to step down early....as
the last five have - to abridge the Charter process!
Changing the Charter simply requires - a vote of the
people and meeting the legal requirements of State Law.
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