ORDINANCE NO. 2024-___
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALISO VIEJO, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 2.04.130 OF THE ALISO VIEJO
MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE SELECTION OF MAYOR AND
MAYOR PRO TEM; AND FINDING THE ACTION EXEMPT FROM CEQA
UNDER CEQA GUIDELINES SECTIONS 15060 AND 15061
WHEREAS, the City of Aliso Viejo, California (“City”) is a municipal corporation, duly organized under the constitution and laws of the State of California; and WHEREAS, as a general law city, the City follows the provisions of Government Code Section 36801 governing the selection of the City’s Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 2.04.130 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code, the City Council is currently responsible for selecting members of the Council to serve as its Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem annually at the first meeting of the Council in December; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to expand upon the current procedural requirements to establish a consistent and orderly process for selection of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem each year; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, the City transitioned from an at-large election system to a by-district system, wherein Council members are elected solely by the voters within each district; and
WHEREAS, in light of the City’s recent transition to district-based elections and the need for consistent selection of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, the City Council desires to adopt a mayoral selection policy which replaces and supersedes any and all previous selection practices and policies; and
WHEREAS, on June 5, 2024, the City Council held a duly noticed public meeting to discuss this matter at which time all interested persons had the opportunity to appear and be heard on this Code amendment. Following the public meeting, the City Council introduced the Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, all legal prerequisites to the adoption of this Ordinance have occurred.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Aliso Viejo does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. Incorporation of Recitals. The recitals above are each incorporated by reference and adopted as findings by the City Council.
SECTION 2. CEQA. Based on the entire record before it, the City Council finds that adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it is an administrative activity that will not result in a direct or reasonably 282475
foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment and is therefore not a “project” under State CEQA Guidelines section 15378. (See State CEQA Guidelines, § 15060(c)(2) and (3).) Alternatively, even if the adoption of the Ordinance did qualify as a project under CEQA, the City Council finds that the Ordinance is exempt from CEQA under Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, which provides that a project is exempt from CEQA where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. Adoption of the Ordinance will not have a significant effect on the environment as it is entirely administrative in nature, only modifying the means in which the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem is selected and related procedural requirements for facilitating this selection.
SECTION 3 . Code Amendment . Section 2.04.130 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows (deleted text shown in strikethrough and new text shown in underline):
2.04.130 Selection of mayor and mayor pro tem
A. The city council shall select one member of the city council to serve as mayor and one member of the city council to serve as mayor pro tem on an annual basis at the first meeting of the city council in December of each year.
A. The City Council shall annually select one member of the City Council to serve as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem by a rotation system tied to the City’s five electoral districts in accordance with this Section. Commencing at the City Council’s first meeting in December 2024 and at the Council’s first meeting in each December thereafter, the Council shall appoint as Mayor the Councilmember representing District 4, and shall appoint as Mayor Pro Tem the Councilmember from District 2. In December 2025, the Council shall appoint the Councilmember from District 2 as Mayor and the Councilmember from District 3 as Mayor Pro Tem, with the Councilmembers from Districts 3, 1, and 5, succeeding in those offices in that order thereafter. The Council offices shall continue in this rotation, beginning again with District 4 after District 5.
B. If in any given year the Councilmember from the designated district declines or is unable to serve as Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem, or if a vacancy occurs for some other reason, the City Council shall appoint a different Councilmember. The Councilmember appointed as Mayor must have served on the Council for at least one year to fill that office.
The Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem so appointed shall serve for the remainder of that year at which point the electoral district rotation shall begin again with the same electoral districts tied to the same calendar years as before.
BC. The term for Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem shall commence on the first day of January each year and shall conclude on December 31st of each year.
C. Selection of the mayor and mayor pro tem may occur at any regular, special or adjourned meeting of the city council.
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D. The City Clerk shall prepare, maintain, and record the rotation schedule and appointments in accordance with this Section. The City Clerk shall update the rotation schedule for City Council affirmation following each Council election, reassignment, and upon any Council vacancy or removal that occurs.
SECTION 4. Publication . The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published once within 15 days of adoption in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the City of Aliso Viejo, and shall post a certified copy of this Ordinance, including the vote for and against the same, in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with California Government Code, section 36933.
SECTION 5. Records . The documents and materials associated with this Ordinance that constitute the record of proceedings on which the City Council's findings and determinations are based are located at 12 Journey, Aliso Viejo, CA.
SECTION 6. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity has no effect on the other provisions or applications of the Ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this extent, the provisions of this Ordinance are severable. The City Council declares that it would adopt this Ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any portion thereof.
SECTION 7 . Effective Date . This Ordinance takes effect 30 days following its adoption.
SECTION 8. City Clerk’s Certification. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance and post or publish this Ordinance as required by law. The Clerk shall also file a Notice of Exemption immediately following adoption of the Ordinance.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this ___ day of ____________, 2024. _____________________________
Mike Munzing, Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
_____________________________ _____________________________ Scott C. Smith, City Attorney Lauren Torres, Deputy City Clerk 284477
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF ALISO VIEJO )
I, LAUREN TORRES, Deputy City Clerk of the City of Aliso Viejo, California, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that foregoing Ordinance No. 2024-___ was duly passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Aliso Viejo at their regular meeting held on the ___ day of ____________, 2024, by the following roll call vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
_____________________________
LAUREN TORRES
DEPUTY CITY CLERK
DEPUTY CITY CLERK(SEAL)
I hereby certify that the foregoing is the original of Ordinance No. 2024-_____ duly passed and adopted by the Aliso Viejo City Council at its regular meeting held _____, 2024, and that the Summary of the Ordinance was published on ____________ ___, 2024, in the ________________.
_____________________________
LAUREN TORRES
DEPUTY CITY CLERK
(SEAL)
285478
City of Aliso Viejo
COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT
ROTATION SCHEDULE FOR MAYOR AND MAYOR
PRO TEM
POLICY NO.
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EFF. DATE
[Date]
PAGE
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BACKGROUND
The City Council is committed to equitable representation and leadership opportunities for all its members. To ensure that each Council member has an opportunity to serve as Mayor during their term in office, this Policy establishes a structured rotation schedule for the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem positions by the City’s electoral district.
PURPOSE
This Policy aims to memorialize the procedures for the rotation of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem offices among the City’s electoral districts. The intent of this Policy to ensure elected members from each district have an opportunity to provide leadership through the mayoral position during their term on the City Council. This rotation schedule will commence with the elections to Council offices in December 2024 for 2025 and will follow the pre-determined order established under Section 2.04.130 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code thereafter. This Policy also includes eligibility requirements to ensure that City Council members have adequate time to acclimate to their roles before assuming the mayoral post.
POLICY
1. Rotation Schedule. The City Council shall annually select one member of the City Council to serve as Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem by a rotation system tied to the City’s five electoral districts in accordance with Section 2.04.130 of the Aliso Viejo Municipal Code and this Policy.
Commencing at the City Council’s first meeting in December 2024 and at the Council’s first meeting in each December thereafter, the Council shall appoint as Mayor the Councilmember representing District 4, and shall appoint as Mayor Pro Tem the Councilmember from District 2.
In December 2025, the Council shall appoint the Councilmember from District 2 as Mayor and the Councilmember from District 3 as Mayor Pro Tem, with the Councilmembers from Districts 3, 1, and 5, succeeding in those offices in that order thereafter. The Council offices shall continue in this rotation, beginning again with District 4 after District 5.
A. If in any given year the Councilmember from the designated district declines or is unable to serve as Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem, or if a vacancy occurs for some other reason, the City Council shall appoint a different Councilmember. The Councilmember appointed as Mayor must have served on the Council for at least one year to fill that office. The Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem so appointed shall serve for the remainder of that year at which point the electoral district rotation shall begin again with the same electoral districts tied to the same calendar years as before.
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City of Aliso Viejo
COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT
ROTATION SCHEDULE FOR MAYOR AND MAYOR
PRO TEM
POLICY NO.
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EFF. DATE
[Date]
PAGE
2 of 2
B. The term for Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem shall commence on the first day of January each year and shall conclude on December 31st of each year.
2. Maintenance of Records. The City Clerk is responsible for preparing, maintaining, and recording the rotation schedule and appointments. The City Clerk shall update the rotation schedule for City Council affirmation following each Council election, reassignment, and upon any Council vacancy or removal that occurs.
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60367.00100\42377364.1
ATTACHMENT A
MAYORAL ROTATION SCHEDULE
Term Mayor Mayor Pro Tem
2025 District 4 District 2
2026 District 2 District 3
2027 District 3 District 1
2028 District 1 District 5
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