1 Attachment 1
January 25, 2024
Dear Honorable Mayor Schultz and City Council Members:
On March 15, 2022, five (5) Burbank residents were to convene as a municipal charter review committee (Committee). The Committee was tasked to review Burbank’s City Charter and to advise you whether (1) no review is advised, (2) a full and comprehensive review is recommended, or (3) a limited and focused Charter review is proposed.
It has been our pleasure and privilege to serve the Community and the Council Members that appointed us. On August 9, 2022, the Committee provided recommendations to the Council. Updates regarding each of the recommendations are provided below.
Recommendations on the Charter:
Term Limits: A full review of term limits for City Council members and Board and Commission members.
During the meeting of Aug ust 9, 2022, there was unanimous direction from the Council at the time to study and debate term limits for Burbank City Council, Boards, Commissions and Committees , and to pursue community outreach and present the findings to Council.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, there have been unforeseen circumstances that have curtailed the committee’s ability to move forward. First and foremost, the City Attorney’s Office advised us that because of the current litigation over districting, we could no longer study items mentioned by Council Members at the October 3, 2023 City Council Meeting, including size and composition of council, possibility of a citywide elected mayor, and a process for redistricting. It was also mentioned and discussed that community outreach regarding term limits could be challenging or confusing to the public. Second, there has been an election since the Committee’s presentation to City Council on August 9, 2022 and only two of the current Council members were present. Given some of the direction we received at the time, it’s possible that the current Council may have o ther goals and opinions that would be better served in the future review after litigation has been resolved.
Social Inequity and Discrimination Clauses: In light of the possibility that the City may be tasked to create a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion pr ogram in the future, the Committee recommends that the Charter be amended to include social inequity and discrimination clauses.
During the meeting of Aug ust 9, 2022 it was debated and decided that current codes and ordinances in both the City and State already provide the protections for Social Inequity and Discrimination. The Council gave the direction and the committee agreed that there was no need to include them in the charter review. The Committee decided to revise the preamble in the Charter to include language expressing the City’s evolution in this area. The suggested revision to the preamble is listed below.
Current Preamble
We the people of the City of Burbank, in order to exercise the benefits of home rule and establish a responsive, effective and accountable government that maintains the highest level of integrity, provides an outstanding quality of life through excellent municipal services, and through which all 2 voices in our diverse society can be heard, and to provide fair representation and distribution of government resources and a safe, harmonious, and sustainable environment based on principles of liberty and equality , do enact this Charter. (Added by Charter Amendment approved by the voters on April 10, 2007.)
Revised Preamble
We the people of the City of Burbank, embracing the principles of justice and liberty, in order to exercise the benefits of home rule, to guar antee to our broadly diverse residents a responsive, collaborative, innovative, and accountable government that maintains the highest level of integrity — one that provides outstanding quality of life through fair distribution of excellent municipal services, considers the current and historically disparate circumstances of its people, guarantees them equal voice and representation, and pledges to fight for equal rights and outcomes — one that welcomes all and strives for all to fully enjoy its economic, cu ltural, and intellectual richness, in a safe, harmonious, and sustainable environment — do enact this Charter.
Municipal Charter Review: The Committee recommends that the Charter be amended to allow for a citizen committee to be appointed every eight (8) years, and at a minimum one year prior to an election year, rather than every five (5) years to consider the Charter and make recommendations for its revision, if necessary.
At the August 9, 2023 meeting, Chairman Rizzotti gave the reasoning for changing the time line of Charter Review. Chair Rizzotti, having served on two of the previous Charter Review Committees, stated that in the last 20 years, the Committee recommended little or no changes in the Charter. It was decided that an 8-year timeframe would better serve the community and relieve the staff of the time and work expense they contribute to the Committee’s responsibilities.
UPDATE: In light of the current litigation around the City’s election process, the Committee decided that it would be wise to leave the charter review at the five-year time frame, knowing that Council may, at its own discretion, call a review at any time prior to the five-year schedule. The Committee feels that once the current litigation has concluded, Charter Section 800: Elections (aside from districting, which the state has allowed to be implemented without public approval ) may need to be reviewed and revised under direction of the current City Council.
The committee met four times in 2023, pausing several times to allow Council’s public outreach and research regarding districts and other potential changes in our elections (and the ongoing likelihood of litigation about districts) to progress.
Because of these necessary pauses, the Review Committee has only the Preamble to the Charter to offer Council for its consideration. The Committee will leave it up to Council whether to pursue placing this single Charter revision on the upcoming ballot in November 2024. The Committee understands that the expense, staff time, and City Clerk work for a single Charter update may not be prudent at this time and the Council may wish to postpone any Charter update until it would better serve the community as a total.
3 Gloria Salas, Vice Chair
Alejandro Escobar, Committee Member
Kevin Muldoon, Committee Member
Isabel Omero, Committee Member