STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: February 21, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Huma Ahmed, City Clerk
Subject: Discussion of Referendum Against an Ordinance Passed by the City Council Approving the Cheval Blanc Specific Plan Zoning and Map Amendments Ordinance No. 22-O-2866; and
Discussion of Referendum Against an Ordinance Passed by the City Council Approving a Development Agreement for
the Cheval Blanc Project: Ordinance No. 22-O-2867
Attachments: 1. Estimated Costs for a Special Election from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
2. Estimated Costs for a Regular Election from the Los
Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
3. Letter from Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills
INTRODUCTION
This item is a request for the City Council to discuss and provide direction on whether to a) Call a Special Election and request the Los Angeles County RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk (LA RR/CC) conduct the election and provide for ballot arguments and impartial analysis. Please note that a Special Election must be scheduled at least 88 days after the City Council orders the election, or b) Repeal Ordinance No. 22-O-2866 regarding the Cheval Blanc Specific Plan Zoning and Map Amendments and Ordinance No. 22-O-2867 regarding the Development Agreement for the Cheval Blanc Project, or
c) Place both ordinances on the ballot at the March 2024 General Municipal Election and request the LA RR/CC conduct a consolidated election and provide for ballot arguments and impartial analysis.
Meeting Date: February 21, 2023
DISCUSSION
The City Council was provided with a staff report at the Formal Session of Tuesday, January 24, 2023 regarding two referendum petitions on the Cheval Blanc Hotel project.
At the request of the City Clerk, the petitions were formally reviewed by the LA RR/CC office. Based on the results, both petitions qualified with signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters in Beverly Hills.
Should the direction be to conduct an election, then it is requested that the City Council approve a request that the LA RR/CC manage the election proceedings. It is also requested that ballot arguments and the impartial analysis be included as part of the election process.
Staff plans to present a report to the City Council at the evening session of February 21, 2023. The evening session will include draft resolutions for City Council consideration should there be direction to move forward with an election on the two ballot measures.
The evening session will also include a draft ordinance repealing the subject ordinances if the City Council wishes to do so.
The following dates are provided as options for an election:
• Tuesday, May 23, 2023 (Special Election)
• Tuesday, June 6, 2023 (Special Election)
• Tuesday, November 7, 2023 (Special Election)
• Tuesday, March 5, 2024 (Regular Election)
Special Election
Per California State Elections Code § 9222 a Special Election shall be held not less than 88 days after the date of the order of election.
Vote Centers
Per the LA RR/CC’s office, the City of Beverly Hills is required to have at least one vote center (per the voting population). It is requested that City Hall be designated as a Vote Center, due to ease of access and parking availability.
Vote by Mail Drop Boxes
Two-drop boxes are located in Beverly Hills. There is one drop box located at City Hall (next to Kelly’s Coffee) and the other is at Roxbury Park (entrance). Select drop boxes immediately outside the City’s borders will also be unlocked for the duration of the Special Election.
Vote by Mail
All registered voters within the City of Beverly Hills will receive a vote by mail ballot.
Regular Election
The next regular municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Similar to previous elections, there will be a number of vote centers provided. The same set of services as a Special Election will be provided.
However, because it is a regular consolidated election, services are shared with other cities and therefore the costs will be lower.
Meeting Date: February 21, 2023
Repeal the Ordinances
Pursuant to Elections Code § 9241 the City Council may repeal the two ordinances and need not call an election. If the Council elects to repeal the ordinances, then the ordinances cannot be readopted for one year.
FISCAL IMPACT
Should the City Council determine to repeal the two ordinances, then there is no fiscal impact related to election costs.
All election services have costs associated with them. However, the costs will vary significantly depending on whether it is a standalone Special Election or Regular consolidated election.
Los Angeles County election services will include onsite election staffing, voting machines, vote by mail drop box services, sample ballots, vote by mail ballots, etc.
Elections will be hosted for 11-days; all Beverly Hills registered voters will receive vote by mail ballots. Estimated costs have been provided for both a Special and Regular Municipal Elections (see attachments).
The following estimated costs are provided for consideration:
Special Election: $815,442.63 (two measures) + $55,000 (City costs) = $870,442.63 Regular Election: $149,232.49 (consolidated) + $55,000 (City costs) = $204,232.49 Special Election (LA County Costs)
Service Estimated Cost
Election Preparation $351.02
Election Operations $560,973.48
Vote By Mail Processing $136,990.52
Sample Ballot Processing and Printing $117,127.61
Total Estimate $815,442.63
Special Election (City Costs)
Internal Costs Estimated Cost
Voter Information Guide (Citywide) $15,000
Postage $13,000
Internal/Staffing $27,000
Total Estimate $55,000
Regular Election (LA County Costs)
Category Estimated Cost
Election Operations $67,070.10
Vote By Mail Processing $21,118.39
Sample Ballot Processing and Printing
Measure(s) $832.43
Measure Text $39,956.47
Voting Information $11,669.47
Election Preparation Cost (flat rate per
jurisdiction)
$8,585.63
Total Estimate $149,232.49
Meeting Date: February 21, 2023
Regular Election – (City Costs) Estimated Cost
Voter Information Guide (Citywide) $15,000
Postage $13,000
Internal/Staffing $27,000
Total Estimate $55,000
Costs related to a Special Election are currently unbudgeted and will require an appropriation of funds from the General Fund to the City Clerk Department. As in past elections, the City Clerk’s office will also send a Citywide Voter Information Guide to all residents and voters in the City of Beverly Hills.
According to the LA RR/CC, they have seen an overall increase in election costs due to the Voter’s Choice Act requiring 11-day vote centers, addition of vote-by-mail drop boxes, all registered voters receiving vote-by-mail ballots, and service counters to allow voters to register and vote in person. The LA RR/CC uses the same estimated formula regardless of the jurisdiction requesting an estimate.
The election costs provided by LA RR/CC are additionally broken down into categories and their associated services:
• Election preparation which includes initiating and coordinating the election, and typesetting/inserting/labeling other election material. • Election operations including vote center operations, precincting/GIS, BMD ballots, election supply material and processing, publication, and official canvass • Vote by mail processing including VBM application processing, supervision, supplies, data entry, VBM ballot processing/mailing/postage, VBM signature verifications, drop off, return postage, etc.
• Sample ballot processing and printing including ballot material preparation, sample ballot printing, mailing and postage, and multi-lingual labor and vendor translation and printing costs
• Signature verification
Please note that this list is not intended to be comprehensive. Detailed information as provided by the LA RR/CC’s office of each billing category and related services are included within the report (Attachments 1 and 2). The costs provided are an estimate, but may be reduced depending on the actual election related services provided.
Also included in this report is a letter from Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills offering to subsize costs associated with a Special Election regarding the Cheval Blanc project.
Should the City Council approve, there would be little to no net impact to the City of Beverly Hills General Fund.
The City is responsible for all expenses (both LA County and City costs) related to the election. Should the City Council approve the funding from Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills for the election, then a separate report will be brought forward for City Council approval.
RECOMMENDATION
This report is provided for City Council discussion and consideration. It is requested that direction be provided on whether the City Council shall:
Meeting Date: February 21, 2023
1) Repeal the two Ordinances 22-O-2866 and 22-O-2867; or 2) Conduct either a Special or Regular Election.
If an election option is selected, a date is requested as well as:
3) Approval of an appropriation of funding to the City Clerk Department for an election;
4) Approval for the LA RR/CC to conduct the election;
5) Approval to provide ballot arguments and an impartial analysis for the ballot measure.
6) Direction regarding the offer from Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills to fund the Special Election.
Huma Ahmed,
City Clerk
Approved By
Attachment 1
January 19, 2023
Huma Ahmed, City Clerk
City of Beverly Hills
455 North Rexford Drive, Room 290
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
ESTIMATED COST FOR A 2023 SPECIAL STANDALONE ELECTION
Dear Ms. Ahmed:
As requested, the estimated cost for the City of Beverly Hills to hold a 2023 Special Standalone Election with two measures is $815,000.
The estimate includes one local vote center, three Vote-By-Mail drop box locations, 32 pages for sample ballot booklets and 22,143 registered voters receiving VBM ballots. Changes in these, or any election factors, and unanticipated increases in labor and/or operational costs may result in a significant variance from this estimate.
As a reminder, elections conducted during a consolidated election cycle (the Presidential/Gubernatorial primary or general elections) are more cost-effective to local jurisdictions since many overall costs are shared with the Federal, State and County Districts.
Standalone or concurrent elections outside of the consolidated elections cost more as each jurisdiction basically sustains the full cost of their own election.
If you have any questions regarding this estimate, please contact the Election Billing Team at [email protected].
Sincerely,
DEAN C. LOGAN
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
NANETTE HERRERA, Division Manager
Finance and Management Division
From: Election Billing <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2023 9:15 AM
To: Huma Ahmed <[email protected]>;
Subject: RE: Cost Estimate - Beverly Hills - 2023 Special Standalone CAUTION: External Sender
Use caution when clicking links or opening attachments
Good Morning,
Election estimates are calculated using past actual similar election costs, calculating category rates, and applying them to the jurisdiction’s estimated election factors. Therefore, we can provide the following election estimated cost by category.
Election Preparation $ 351.02
Election Operations $560,973.48
Vote By Mail Processing $136,990.52
Sample Ballot Processing and Printing $117,127.61
$815,442.63
Thank you,
Election Billing Team
Financial Services Section
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
ELECTION INITIATION AND COORDINATION
OTHER ELECTION MATERIAL TYPESETTING, INSERTING, LABELING
TALLY CENTER OPERATION
POLLING PLACES OPERATION
TELEPHONE COVERAGE - ELECTION DAY
SERVICES RENDERED BY OTHER COMPANY DEPARTMENTS- ON SITE SUPPORT SERVICES
MOBILE VOTE CENTERS DEPLOYMENT PROGRAM
WAREHOUSE TECHNICAL SUPPORT-EPOLLBOOK STAGER
WAREHOUSE TECHNICAL SUPPORT-BMD STAGER
ELECTION TESTING-TECHNICAL SERVICES
CHECK-IN-CENTER SURVEY AND RECRUITMENT
ELECTION SUPPORT - TECHNICAL SERVICES
CONSOLIDATION OF PRECINCTS
POLLING PLACE MAP PREPARATION
OFFICIAL BALLOT-STOCK-PRINTING-PERFORATING-NUMBERING
BALLOT BOXES AND OTHER SUPPLIES – DEPROCESSING
PUBLICATION PROCESSING AND PROOFREADING
OFFICIAL CANVAS - VERIFICATION - CERTIFICATION - DEPROCESSING
OFFICIAL CANVASS - TECHNICAL SERVICES
VBM APPLICATION PROCESSING
VBM SUPERVISION
VBM SUPPLIES
VBM DATA ENTRY-APPLICATION UPDATING
VBM BALLOTS-PROCESSING, MAILING AND POSTAGE
VBM SIGNATURE VERIFICATIONS-BALLOTS & APPLICATIONS FOR CITY & COUNTY ELECTIONS
VBM AUTO ENVELOPE EXTRACTION-TALLY PREPARATION
VBM PRE-ELECTION PREPARATION – TECHNICAL SERVICES
VOTE BY MAIL DROP OFF
VOTE BY MAIL BALLOT RETURN POSTAGE
SAMPLE BALLOT-PREPARATION, PROOFREADING AND TYPESETTING
ENCLOSURE-STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS-PREPARATION, PROOFREADING, PRINTING
OTHER ENCLOSURES-MEASURES-PRINTING, PREPARATION, PROOFREADING
SUPERVISION AND REVIEW OF ELECTION RELATED MATERIAL AND OPERATION
SAMPLE BALLOT-PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION
SAMPLE BALLOT-PROCESSING-MAILING-POSTAGE
RECORDING OF AUDIO BALLOTS FOR PRECINCT BALLOT READER
BALLOT MATERIAL-VENDOR TRANSLATION-PRINTING-MAILING-POSTAGE-TRANSLITERATION TELEPHONE TRANSLATION REQUEST - ML 800 LINE
BALLOT MATERIAL PREPARATION-IN HOUSE TRANSLATION,PROFREADING,TYPESETTING
FULL-FACE BALLOTS-PROOFING AND APPROVAL OF ENGLISH MULTILINGUAL BALLOTS
NOMINATION / SIGNATURE IN LIEU-SIGNATURE VERIFICATION-BILLABLE
TOTAL ELECTION COSTS
**Salaries will have appropriate EB and O/H Applied
BILLING CATEGORY: SIGNATURE VERIFICATION
VOTE CENTER OPERATIONS
PRECINCTING/GIS
BMD BALLOTS
ELECTION SUPPLY MATERIAL & PROCESSING
PUBLICATION
OFFICIAL CANVASS
SAMPLE BALLOT PRINTING
MAILING & POSTAGE
MULTI-LINGUAL LABOR & VENDOR TRANSLATION AND PRINTING COSTS
BILLING CATEGORY
BILLING CATEGORY: ELECTION PREPARATION
BILLING CATEGORY: ELECTION OPERATIONS
BILLING CATEGORY: VOTE BY MAIL PROCESSING
BALLOT MATERIAL PREPARATION
BILLING CATEGORY: SAMPLE BALLOT PROCESSING AND PRINTING https://lacounty‐my.sharepoint.com/personal/jstorm_rrcc_lacounty_gov/Documents/Documents/Election Billing Categories\Billing 1 of 1Category 2/6/2023 8:07 AM
LA RR/CC
Attachment 2
1/30/23, 9:55 AM https://www.lavote.gov/apps/ElectionBillingCalculator/EstimatedResult https://www.lavote.gov/apps/ElectionBillingCalculator/EstimatedResult 1/1 Select Estimate Type
Select Jurisdiction(s)
Estimated Result
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS - 2024 - Primary Election
$8,585.63
$149,232.49
The estimated cost is based on the cost factors below. Any changes to the election cost factors will impact the final costs for your jurisdiction.
If you need cost estimates for other elections or further assistance in using the cost estimate calculator, please contact our Election Billing team at [email protected].
Voter Count Rate Breakdown Estimated Cost
Registered Voters (RV) 22,139
Election Operations (rate * RV) $3.0295 * 22139 $67,070.10 Vote By Mail Processing (rate * RV) $0.9539 * 22139 $21,118.39 Sample Ballot Processing and Printing
Office(s)/Seat(s) (rate * No. of Offices * RV)
$0.0188 * 0 *
22139 $0.00
Measures(s) (rate * No. of Measures * RV)
$0.0188 * 2 *
22139 $832.43
Measure Text (rate * No. of Text Pages for all measures * RV) $0.0564 * 32 *
22139 $39,956.47
Voting Information (rate * RV) $0.5271 * 22139 $11,669.47 Candidate Filing and Campaign Finance (rate * No. of Candidates) $957.1867 * 0 $0.00 Election Preparation Cost (Flat rate per jurisdiction)
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS TOTAL ESTIMATE
DISCLAIMER: Please note that calculating an estimate using the Election Cost Estimate Calculator is not consent or agreement to hold, consolidate or provide support services for an election. Requests from jurisdictions for any election scenario must be received in the form of an adopted resolution or other official document and considered by the Board of Supervisors and Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk at the appropriate time. For more information, please contact the Election Information and Preparation Division at [email protected].
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VOTING & ELECTIONS RECORDS COUNTY CLERK NEWSROOM PUBLICATIONS JOBS CONTACT Attachment 3
Re: Referendum Petitions – Ordinance No. 22-O-2866 and Ordinance No. 22-O-2867 Dear Ms. Ahmed:
Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills, an organization formed to support the two above-referenced ordinances, respectfully requests that the Beverly Hills City Council set a special election for the referenda measures on the earliest date possible, May 23, 2023. Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills will reimburse the City for the costs of the special election.
We are proud of the Project, the Project sponsor’s years of community engagement, and the more than two years of analysis by City staff, the Planning Commission and the City Council. The City’s public review was extraordinarily comprehensive and transparent, including a full environmental impact report in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The public review process worked, with the Project earning overwhelming support by the Planning Commission, the Mayor, and the City Council. Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills is also gratified by the support the Project received from hundreds of Beverly Hills residents who engaged throughout the City’s approval process. The City and the Project that was approved benefitted enormously from this active, sustained, good-faith engagement over a period of years. We are confident the voters of the City share and support our vision and excitement.
Respectfully,
FRIENDS OF CHEVAL BLANC BEVERLY HILLS
Anish Melwani | President and Chairman
Huma Ahmed
City Clerk
City Hall
455 N. Rexford Drive
Room 290
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
FRIENDS OF CHEVAL BLANC BEVERLY HILLS
Ad Paid for by Friends of Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills; Committee major funding from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Inc. and Affiliated Entities Funding details at www.beverlyhills.org
Referendums Against An Ordinance Approving the Cheval Blanc Specific Plan Zoning and Map Amendments:
Ordinance No. 22-0-2866 and An Ordinance Of the City Council Approving a Development Agreement For the Cheval Blanc Project: Ordinance No. 22-0-2867
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