1991 AGN NOV 05 I23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF COLTON AGENDA REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF November 5, 1991 SUBJECT: Certification Of Initiative Petition --Councilmanic District sufficient with respect to "procedure". A report from the City Clerk to this effect is attached for your review. While the initiative ordinance submitted by the Committee may be certified with respect to "procedure", there appear to be several "substance" issues which may render it invalid. Elections Code Section 4011 requires that the Council accept the ordinance as presented without alteration by either the Committee or Council. It may not be amended at this point to rectify or sever invalid portions. The proposed initiative ordinance does not contain a description of councilmanic districts. Instead, it describes a procedure by which the Committee and the City Council will determine district boundaries prior to the November 1992 elections. A similar initiative petition in the City of Redlands was recently invalidated by the courts. The proposed initiative ordinance also instructs the City Clerk to assign incumbent council members to districts by residence and/or by lot. The initiative power applies only to acts which are legislative in nature, not to executive or administrative processes. The City's legal counsel believes that the assignment of incumbent council members to specific districts is an administrative matter and its inclusion in the proposed ordinance may also be cause for invalidation by the courts. If an initiative petition may be certified for "procedure", the City has no statutory authority to determine the impropriety or invalidity of its "substance"; this is a matter which requires judicial review. At issue, however, is whether such judicial review should occur before or after an election on the proposed ordinance. In 1985, the courts upheld the City of Norco's refusal to place a invalid (for substance) referendum petition on the ballot. If the Colton City Council refuses to place the proposed ordinance on the ballot, the Committee may either draft a new ordinance and circulate a new initiative petition for signature, or it may seek court action requiring the Council to place its original ordinance on the ballot. Given the recent Redlands decision, our legal counsel feels that the courts will not validate the substance of the Committee's ordinance, as currently drafted. If the Council wishes to place the proposed ordinances, as is, on the ballot and it is approved by the voters, it is likely it will be challenged after the election and invalidated at that time. The City will then have conducted a costly election to no purpose. FISCAL IMPACT: The cost to the City for a special election is approximately $15,000. If the Council refuses to place the initiative ordinance on the ballot and Page 2 of ---3— Item No