PROPOSED MEASURE "G"

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ADDING SECTIONS 2.08.040 AND 2.08.050 TO THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE

THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH TERM LIMITS ACT

The people of the City of Hermosa Beach do ordain as follows:

SECTION 1. TITLE . This ordinance shall be known as, and may be cited as, "The City of Hermosa Beach Term Limits Act."

SECTION 2. FINDINGS, DETERMINATIONS AND DECLARATIONS. The people of the City of Hermosa Beach hereby find, determine, and declare all of the following:

(a) The Founding Fathers established a system of representative government based on free, fair, and competitive elections. The increased concentration of political power in the hands of incumbent representatives has made our electoral system less free, less competitive, and less representative. The ability of City Council members to serve unlimited number of terms contributes heavily to the extremely high number of incumbents who are reelected. These unfair incumbent advantages discourage qualified candidates from seeking public office and create a class of career politicians, instead of the citizen representatives envisioned by the Founding Fathers. These career politicians become representatives of the bureaucracy, rather than of the people whom they are elected to serve. To restore a free and democratic system of fair elections, and to encourage qualified candidates to seek public office, the powers of incumbency must be limited and limitations placed on the number of terms which may be served.

(b) Local Government should serve the needs and respond to the wishes of all citizens equally, without regard to their wealth;

(c) Elected public officials should perform their duties in an impartial manner, free from bias caused by their own financial interests or the financial interests of persons who have supported them;

(d) Lobbyists often make their contributions to incumbents who cannot be effectively challenged because of election laws and abusive practices which give the incumbent an unfair advantage;

(e) Previous laws regulating political practices have suffered from inadequate enforcement by state and local authorities;

(f) Over 3,700,000 California voters passed Proposition 140 term limits and enjoy term limits for President, Governor, State Senate, State Assembly, Mayor of Los Angeles, and numerous city and state officials throughout California;

(g) Unlimited terms in the office of City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach significantly reduces the citizens ability to participate in and determine the future of the City. To restore a free and democratic system of fair elections, and to encourage qualified candidates to seek public office, the powers of incumbency must be limited and limitations placed on the number of terms which may be served.

(h) It is the will of the people of the City of Hermosa Beach that current and future elected City Council members of the City of Hermosa Beach shall be limited in their terms of office to a maximum of two terms.

SECTION 3. PURPOSE AND INTENT . The purpose and intent of this act is to establish a system of representative government based on free, fair, and competitive elections; to create a more representative system of government, and; to encourage qualified candidates to seek public office.

The City of Hermosa Beach Municipal Code is subject to the following modifications to read: (Parts A-B)

(A) Chapter 2.08 (Elections) by ADDING new Section 2.08.040 as follows:

Section 2.08.040 TERM LIMITS

(a) Except as provided in Subsection 2.08.040.b, no person may serve in the office of City Council of The City of Hermosa Beach more than two terms, but upon the passage this measure no person who has held the office or who then holds the office may serve more than one additional term. This Subsection shall apply to any term that a member of the City Council has served or is serving in that office on the date this measure is adopted. A "term" does not include any unexpired term to which a City Council Member is elected if the remainder of the term is less than one-half of the full term.

(b) Any City Council member who has served the maximum number of terms set in Subsection 2.08.040.a may seek reelection upon the expiration of four consecutive intervening terms. Subsection 2.08.040.a shall apply to any additional term to which a City Council member is reelected.

(c) In no event shall the operation of this measure cause a vacancy in office of a member of The City Council serving an unexpired term on the date this measure is adopted.

(B) Chapter 2.08 (Elections) by ADDING new Section 2.08.050 as follows:

Section 2.08.050 CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES; BALLOT ACCESS.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the elections official of The City of Hermosa Beach shall not accept or verify the signatures on any nomination paper for any person, nor shall he or she certify or place on the list of certified candidates, nor print or cause to be printed on any ballot, ballot pamphlet, sample ballot, or ballot label the name of any person, who seeks to become a candidate for the City Council of The City of Hermosa Beach, and who, by the end of the then current term of office will have served or but for resignation would have served, as a member of The City Council of The City of Hermosa Beach for eight or more of the previous fifteen years;

(b) "WRITE-IN" CANDIDACIES . Nothing in this measure shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting any qualified voter of the City of Hermosa Beach from casting a ballot for any person by writing the name of that person on the ballot, or from having such a ballot counted or tabulated, nor shall any provision of this section be construed as preventing or prohibiting any person from standing or campaigning for office of City Council of The City of Hermosa Beach by means of a "write-in" campaign.

SECTION 4. CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this measure shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting the name of any person from appearing on the ballot at any election unless that person is specifically prohibited from doing so by the provisions of Section 2.08.040.a and to that end, the provisions of Section 2.08.040.a shall be strictly construed.

SECTION 5. INITIATIVE INTEGRITY .

(A) This act shall be broadly construed and applied in order to fully promote its underlying purposes, and to be consistent with the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of California. If any provision of this initiative conflicts directly or indirectly with any other provisions of law of the City of Hermosa Beach, or if any ordinance which is adopted concurrently with this ordinance which receives less votes and is in direct or indirect conflict with any provisions herein, it is the intent of the voters that those other provisions are repealed to the extent of the inconsistency and such inconsistencies shall be of no force and effect.

(B) No provisions of this act or part thereof may be modified, amended, or repealed without a vote of the electorate of The City of Hermosa Beach.

(C) If any provision portion, clause or phrase of this act is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining portions, clauses, and phrases shall not be affected, but shall remain in full force and effect. The portions of this act shall supersede all inconsistent provisions of city law.

(D) It is the will of the People of The City of Hermosa Beach that any legal challenges to the validity of any provision of this act be acted upon by the courts upon an expedited basis.

SECTION 6. This initiative measure is to be adopted by the City Council of Hermosa Beach or be submitted to the voters at the next succeeding municipal election or at a special election as provided for by law.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect the day after the election, or in the manner prescribed by law.

SECTION 8. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and shall cause the same to be published in the manner prescribed by law.

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