Item 36 - Proposed Voter Ballot Measure(s) for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election to Amend the City Charter

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Proposed Ballot Measure(s) for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election to Amend the City Charter July 19, 2022 Page 5 2 8 5 3 size of the City. Currently, the salary of the Mayor and members of the City Council is $1,000 monthly. Additionally, the Charter provides that no increase in compensation for the Mayor and members of the City Council shall be permitted without a vote of the electorate of the City of Santa Ana pursuant to a future Charter amendment. At the June 29, 2022 Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee meeting, the members discussed two options relating to amending this section to increase the compensation of the Mayor and members of the City Council as follows: (1) increasing the compensation of the Mayor and members of the City Council so that the Mayor’s salary would equal 66 percent the salary of a Superior Court judge of the State of California and the councilmembers’ salary would equal 66 percent of the Mayor’s salary; or (2) providing for increases that are commensurate with the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) for the Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County, CA area. According to the California State Controller’s website, a Superior Court Judge’s maximum base salary is $214,601. Sixty-six percent of this amount is $141,636.66, and 66 percent of that amount is 93,480.20. The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. CPI will vary, depending upon the time period that is being reviewed. Section 607: Budget Adoption This amendment would change the voting requirement to approve the City budget from a majority of the City Council to a two-thirds vote of the City Council. This change would be consistent Section 609 relating to the two-thirds voting requirement to appropriate City funds. Sections 400, 401, 404, or Proposed New Section 401.01) The Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee directed staff to prepare a proposed Charter amendment to do the following: (1) adjust the Mayor’s term from four two-year terms to two four-year terms (section 404); (2) impose a “lifetime ban” by removing the eight-year cooling-off provision (sections 401 and 404); and (3) tying the beginning of the term of Mayor to 2024 to coincide with the presidential election (section 404). The full text of each of the Charter amendments is attached to this staff report as Exhibit 1. Next Steps At this time, staff is seeking direction from the City Council to identify which, if any, proposed Charter amendments to move forward for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election. Each proposed Charter amendment would need to be prepared as a