Office of the City Manager INFORMATION CALENDAR July 8, 2014 To: From: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Christine Daniel, City Manager Submitted by: Zach Cowan, City Attorney Subject: City Attorney Analyses for the November 2014 Ballot INTRODUCTION Elections Code section 9280 requires the City Attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of each measure on the ballot, showing the effect of the measure on the existing law and the operation of the measure. In some cases, this is quite straightforward. In others it requires a significant amount of analysis. In cases where a report is prepared under Elections Code section 9212, the City Attorney will rely on that report. CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS The following City measures may be on the November 2014 ballot: 1. Charter amendment conforming recall provisions to state law 2. Council-adopted redistricting ordinance (Ordinance No. 7,320-N.S.) 3. Advisory Initiative Measure Supporting Passage of Local and Federal Laws Allowing Workers to Request to Work Part-Time 4. Advisory measure calling for an amendment to the United States constitution to abolish the legal concept that corporations are persons that are entitled to constitutional rights, and the doctrine that the expenditure of money may be treated as free speech 5. Initiative Ordinance Amending Downtown Zoning Provisions and Creating Civic Center Historic District Overlay Zone 6. Sugar-sweetened beverage tax 7. Increase in Parks, Trees and Landscaping Maintenance Tax As of the writing of this information report, it is unknown whether all of these measures will or will not be on the ballot, and the text and substance of at least one has not yet been finally determined by the City Council. Accordingly, this report includes City Attorney analyses only for those measures that are final and which the Council has placed on the ballot as of the time of the writing of this report. These are: 1. Charter amendment conforming recall provisions to state law 2. Council-adopted redistricting ordinance (Ordinance No. 7,320-N.S.) 3. Advisory Initiative Measure Supporting Passage of Local and Federal Laws Allowing Workers to Request to Work Part-Time 2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: (510) 981-7000 TDD: (510) 981-6903 Fax: (510) 981-7099 E-Mail: manager@cityofberkeley.info Website: http://www.cityofberkeley.info/manager
City Attorney Analyses for the November 2014 Ballot INFORMATION CALENDAR July 8, 2014 Other City Attorney analyses will be provided via a supplemental report on July 3, 2014. BACKGROUND See preceding section. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY There are no identifiable environmental effects or opportunities associated with the subject of this report. POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION The City Attorney analyses will be submitted to the Registrar of Voters for publication in the voter pamphlet. FISCAL IMPACTS OF POSSIBLE FUTURE ACTION None CONTACT PERSON Zach Cowan, City Attorney, 981-6998 Attachments: 1. City Attorney analysis for Charter amendment conforming recall provisions to state law 2. City Attorney analysis for Council-adopted redistricting ordinance (Ordinance No. 7,320-N.S.) 3. City Attorney analysis for Advisory Initiative Measure Supporting Passage of Local and Federal Laws Allowing Workers to Request to Work Part-Time Page 2
Attachment 1 City Attorney Analysis Proposed Charter Amendment Revising Recall Provisions To Conform To State Law The proposed Charter amendment would revise the recall provisions of the Berkeley Charter (Section 7) to eliminate provisions that are contrary to state law and case law, generally revise the wording for clarity, and modify deadlines for calling elections to meet current election deadlines in the Elections Code, and ensure the City s ability to consolidate elections and request services from the County Registrar of Voters, thereby reducing the likelihood of special elections. In particular, the proposed Charter amendment would: Prohibit recalls of an office holder within six months before his or her term expires; Base the number of required signatures on the most recent report of registration by the county elections official; Require recall proponents to file of an affidavit of publication with the City Clerk; Combine the 75-day circulation period and the 15-day supplemental circulation period for a recall petition into a single 90-day circulation period; Conform the requirements for the declaration of circulator to state law and petitioning requirements; Provide the City Clerk 30 days to examine signatures rather than 15 days; Require the City Clerk to retain insufficient recall petitions as required by state law; Conform the timeline for calling an election to state law; Permit registered voters to vote on a replacement candidate even if they do not vote on the recall, as required by state law; and Provide the City Council and Board of Education 60 days rather than 30 days to fill any vacancies after a recall election. This measure was placed on the ballot by the City Council. Page 3
Attachment 2 City Attorney Analysis Referendum of Council-adopted Redistricting Ordinance (Ordinance No. 7,320- N.S.) The City Charter divides the City of Berkeley into 8 council districts, with the Mayor elected at large. The City Charter requires the City Council to adopt new council districts every ten years, based on the decennial census, and requires the Council to complete its redistricting process no later than the end of the third year after the census is taken. The Charter requires that council districts be as nearly equal in population as may be. Based on the 2010 census, districts of equal population would each have 14,073 residents. The existing districts, which were based on the 2000 census, diverge from this population by a minimum of 4.5% and a maximum of 18%. Until 2012, the Charter required that new council district boundaries preserve to the extent possible the original council district boundaries established by a charter amendment in 1986. In 2012, after considering a number of proposed redistricting maps, the Council placed a charter amendment on the ballot to eliminate the requirement that new districts conform as closely as possible to the 1986 boundaries. The voters adopted this amendment in November 2012. In 2013 the Council reinitiated the redistricting process under the revised Charter rules. In December 2013, after considering a total of 7 redistricting proposals, the Council adopted an ordinance establishing new council district boundaries with a maximum population deviation between district size and equal population of 0.77%. Under the City Charter and state law, voters may place an ordinance adopted by the Council on the ballot for voter approval or rejection by collecting the signatures of registered voters equal to 10% of the entire vote cast for all candidates for Mayor at the last preceding election at which a Mayor was elected. An ordinance that is placed on the ballot in this manner goes into effect if it is approved by a majority of the voters voting on it. This measure was placed on the ballot as the result of a petition signed by voters. A "yes" vote would approve the redistricting ordinance adopted by the Council, in which case it would go into effect. A "no" vote would reject the redistricting ordinance adopted by the Council, requiring the Council to adopt a new redistricting ordinance and leaving in place the existing districts that were adopted in 2002 until it does so. Page 4
Attachment 3 City Attorney Analysis Advisory Initiative Measure Supporting Passage of Local and Federal Laws Allowing Workers to Request to Work Part-Time The proposed measure, if adopted, would advise the Berkeley City Council that the voters request it to adopt an ordinance based on the Working Families Flexibility Act, introduced in Congress in 2007 as Senate Bill S. 2419, and the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance adopted in San Francisco, that would give public sector and private sector employees in the City of Berkeley the right to request to work parttime. The proposed measure would also advise the City Council that any such ordinance should apply to all employees, not just care givers, and be fine-tuned based on the needs of local employers, such as, for instance, by exempting small businesses. The proposed measure would direct the City of Berkeley to send a letter to the Governor, Senate and Assembly of the State of California and the President, Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, requesting the state and federal governments to implement policies that would give government employees the right to request shorter work hours, and require the state and federal governments to grant such requests if doing so would not cause operational problems. The proposed measure would direct the City of Berkeley to send a letter to the Governor, Senate and Assembly of the State of California and the President, Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, urging them to pass a law with the provisions of the Working Families Flexibility Act, introduced in Congress in 2007 as Senate Bill S. 2419. This measure was placed on the ballot as the result of a petition signed by voters. Page 5