2023-10-03 City Council - Full Agenda- Regular Meeting

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Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council Discussion - Term Limits October 3, 2023 Page 3 Term cut short due to recall, criminal conviction or forced removal counts against the limit? It does not count against the limit? Staff raises the issue of partial terms because if they are not addressed in the draft measure, the term limits measure will not apply to them. The courts have held that because elected public service is a fundamental Constitutional right, term limits measures are interpreted narrowly. In other words, any ambiguities or issues left out of a term limits measure go to the candidate’s/officer’s benefit and will not limit their service. Even if the Council decides not to apply term limits to any partial terms, Staff would still make that clear in the measure to avoid any ambiguity. In summary, the wording of a term limits measure is largely left to local policy, subject of course to it applying “prospectively” and securing majority voter approval. Staff is seeking direction from the Council with regard to the questions outlined above. Upon receiving final Council direction, the City Attorney can prepare a proposed ballot measure to present to Colton voters at either a March 5, 2024 or November 5, 2024 Municipal election. The legal deadlines to place such a measure on the ballot are December 8, 2023 and August 9, 2024, respectively. FISCAL IMPACTS None at this time. However, if a term limits measure were placed on the ballot, there would be an expense to the City to have the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters conduct the election. While staff has no official numbers at this time, as a general rule, placing a ballot measure on the November General Election will be less expensive than placing it on the March Primary Election. ALTERNATIVES Provide alternative direction to staff. ATTACHMENT 1. 09-05-23 Staff Report Packet Pg. 9