Item 8.2
Ballot Measure:
Consider Placing a Charter Amendment Measure on the
November 2026 Ballot Related to Term Limits, Elected Official Compensation, Council Committees, Salary Setting & City Ethics Commissions, Public Contracting, Lobbying, & Binding
Arbitration
Overview of Proposed Amendments
Article III
• Members,
Eligibility & Terms
• Vacancies
• Compensation for
City Council
• City Council
Committees
Article V Article VI Article X Article XII Article XIII • City Attorney:
Election, Powers
and Duties
• City Council
Authority to Add
or Consolidate
Functions
• Boards/
Commissions:
Appointments,
Terms &
Vacancies
• Civil Service, City
Ethics, & Salary
Setting
Commissions
• Public
Contracting
• Lobbying and
Lobbyist
Registration
• Impartial and
Binding
Arbitration for
Police and Fire
Department
Employee
Bargaining Unit
Disputes
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Article III., Mayor and City Council
Section 300., Members, Eligibility & Terms
Section 303., Vacancies
Increases the number of consecutive terms that may be held by Councilmembers and the Mayor from two (2) to three (3).
Terms of office commenced before July 1, 2026, are not to be considered or counted for purposes of interpreting this section, providing for a total of up to four consecutive terms of office for current office holders (no current members of the City Council were in their second term of office as of the effective date of July 1, 2026).
Conforming changes are made in Section 303.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Modifies the basis for setting compensation for Councilmembers, effective January 1, 2027 to be set by a Salary Setting Commission.
Article III., Mayor and City Council
Article III., Section 302., Compensation for Councilmembers Currently, the salary for City Councilmembers is set at forty percent (40%) of the salary of the Mayor. The Mayor’s salary is set at sixty -six percent (66%) of the salary of a judge of the Superior Court of the State. Under the proposed language, Councilmember salaries would be set by a Salary Setting Commission (to be created with this Charter Amendment).
In addition, the proposed language provides a minimum City Councilmember salary of forty -five percent (45%) of the salary of a judge of the Superior Court of the State.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Article III., Mayor and City Council
Section 304., Presiding Officer, Mayor
Currently, the salary for the Mayor is set at sixty -six percent (66%) of the salary of a judge of the Superior Court of the State.
Under the proposed language, the Mayor’s salary would be set by a Salary Setting Commission (to be created with this Charter Amendment). In addition, the proposed language provides that the Mayor’s annual salary for the period from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 3031, shall not be reduced below the dollar amount in effect as of December 31, 2026.¹
Modifies the basis for setting compensation for the Mayor, effective January 1, 2027 to be set by a Salary Setting Commission.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
¹ Proposed language includes a conflicting provision that sets the minimum salary for the Mayor at 70% of judge’s salary. This conflict must be reconciled and corrected prior to placing related language on the ballot.
Establishes a new Charter section, Section 313, City Council Committees.
Establishes a Budget, Government Accountability and Efficiency Committee and a Public and Traffic Safety Committee.
Article III., Mayor and City Council
Section 313., City Council Committees
Both committees shall be composed of two Councilmembers, to be appointed at the first business meeting of the City Council each January and to serve for the balance of said calendar year. Each committee shall meet not less than quarterly. Each committee shall serve as a venue for the public to comment on issues under the committee’s purview and shall conduct hearings and provide recommendations to the full City Council.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Modifies the basis for setting compensation for the City Attorney, effective January 1, 2027 to be set by a Salary Setting Commission.
Article V., Officers and Employees
Section 503., City Attorney: Election, Powers and Duties Currently, the salary for the City Attorney is equivalent to the salary of a judge of the Superior Court of the State.
Under the proposed language, the City Attorney’s salary would be set by a Salary Setting Commission (to be created with this Charter Amendment).
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Excludes the City Ethics Commission from the City Council’s existing Charter authority to transfer or consolidate functions of the City government to or with functions of the State, County, or other city government or to make use of such other agencies to supplement or replace City functions.
Article V., Mayor and City Council
Section 506., City Council Authority to Add or Consolidate Functions PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Restricts the City Council’s ability to remove members of the City Ethics Commission and the Salary Setting Commission to “for cause” removals only.
Clarifies that the City Council shall not be responsible for appointing or removing members of the Salary Setting Commission.
Article VI., Appointive Boards and
Commissions
Section 602., Appointments, Terms and Vacancies
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Expands the powers and duties of the Civil Service Commission to include appointing five (5) members of the newly established Salary Setting Commission and removing said members for cause.
Article VI., Appointive Boards and
Commissions
Section 606., Civil Service Commission
Establishes the eligibility factors for appointment to the Salary Setting Commission as follows:
1. resident of Chula Vista;
2. at least 18 years of age;
3. not related by blood or marriage to any city officer or employee;
4. not employed by the City; and
5. not employed by any business, venture, or other entity which is owned, operated, managed or controlled by any elected city officer or employee.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Establishes a new City Ethics Commission (“CEC”) to supervise the investigation of, and enforce, alleged violations of any provisions of the Charter or ordinances relating to campaign finance, lobbyist registration and regulation, revolving door rules and public official gift bans, as adopted by the City Council and assigned to the commission for enforcement.
Article VI., Appointive Boards and Commissions
Section 608., City Ethics Commission
The CEC would:
• be responsible for providing ethics training to candidates for elective office and elected city officials; • have the authority to issue subpoenas duces tecum for bank records of campaign accounts of City candidates, elective officeholders, and any other City political committee or in connection with compliance investigations and enforcement proceedings; and
• have the authority to cause an audit to be performed of City elected officers and City candidates’ campaign accounts to ensure compliance with applicable rules and regulations.
The proposed CEC would consist of seven (7) members. Procedures for appointment and removal are proposed to be established by ordinance of the City Council.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Establishes a new Salary Setting Commission tasked with establishing salaries for the Mayor, City Councilmembers, and the City Attorney.
Article VI., Appointive Boards and
Commissions
Section 609., Salary Setting Commission
Establishes the eligibility factors for appointment to the Salary Setting Commission as follows:
1. resident of Chula Vista;
2. at least 18 years of age;
3. not related by blood or marriage to any city officer or employee;
4. not employed by the City; and
5. not employed by any business, venture, or other entity which is owned, operated, managed or controlled by any elected city officer or employee.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Article VI., Appointive Boards and Commissions
Section 609., Salary Setting Commission (cont.)
² Proposed language includes a conflicting provision that sets the minimum salary for the Mayor at 70% of judge’s salary. This conflict must be reconciled and corrected prior to placing related language on the ballot.
Salary Setting Process
• Mayor and City Councilmembers
salaries would be subject to cost -of-
living adjustments (“COLAs”) each
July 1st (unless otherwise
determined as part of a five -year
review).
• COLAs would be calculated by
applying a percentage increase to
existing salary equivalent to the
increase of the preceding calendar
year’s annual average of the
Consumer Price Index -Urban (CPI-U)
capped at %5 per year.
• Council may forego any COLA.
Cost-of-Living Adjustments Absences - Salary Reductions • Each Councilmember that fails to
attend a regular meeting of the City
Council shall have their salary
reduced by a sum established by the
Salary Setting Commission, with
exceptions for absences to conduct
authorized City business, or due to
their own or close relative illness.
• The proposed salary reduction
would apply to each meeting
missed.
• This provision is not proposed to
apply to the Mayor.
• To be undertaken between March
1st and April 30th every five (5)
years, commencing in 2027 for the
Mayor and City Councilmembers.²
• Similar schedule proposed for the
City Attorney, but annual.
• For City Attorney, comparative
salaries from six similarly sized
cities shall be designated by the City
Council as of February of each year,
to be used as a basis for determining
salary.
Section 1013., Public Contracting
Establishes a new Charter section addressing disclosures in public contracting.
Article X., Fiscal Administration
The language as proposed would require every person or entity contracting with the City to make certain disclosures to the City Clerk, including the names and identities of all persons who will receive more than 10% of the contracted amount or who own more than 10% of the entity contracting with the City.
This provision is proposed to apply only to: 1) those contracts where City Council approval is required by Charter or ordinance; 2) transfers of interests in City’s real or personal property; and 3) grants or renewals of franchises.
Provisions for rejection or termination of contracts if any person or entity submits false information or omits information are included.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Section 1206., Lobbying and Lobbyist Registration
Establishes a new Charter section requiring lobbyist registration and defining the contents of such registration.
Article XII., Miscellaneous
The proposed language also establishes a “Revolving Door Prohibition” which provides that no former member of the City Council, former member of a City commission, or a former City employee employed in an unclassified service position may serve as a lobbyist with respect to the City within one year of leaving office or employment with the City.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Article XIII., Impartial and Binding Arbitration for
Police and Fire Department Employee Bargaining
Unit Disputes
Establishes a new Charter article adopting impartial and binding arbitration for Police and Fire Department employees.
The proposed language:
1. prohibits strikes by police officers and firefighters under the authority of the City’s charter;
2. requires the City to negotiate in good faith with the bargaining groups representing sworn members of the Police and Fire Departments; and
3. establishes impasse resolution procedures for disputes which remain unresolved after good faith negotiations between the City and bargaining groups representing Police and Fire Department employees. • If adopted, this provision would require the issue under dispute be submitted to a three -member Board of Arbitrators, to consist of one City representative, one employee bargaining group representative, and a third neutral member to be selected by other two representatives.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
November 7, 2026
General Election
July 14, 2026
Referral Presentation &
Council Direction
July 21, 2026
Council Consider
Ballot Measure
July 28, 2026
Council Consider
Ballot Measure
August 7, 2026
County Registrar Deadline
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments
Next Steps
Recommended Action:
Provide direction on:
Provisions the City Council would like to place on ballot.
Any changes or modifications the City Council would like to make in the operation of those provisions.
Designation of an individual to submit a ballot argument in favor of the measure.
Item 8.2 | Ballot Measure - Charter Amendments