Agenda #: 7.1
Meeting Date: September 17, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Daniel Fox, City Manager
TITLE: LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES RESOLUTION AT THE 2024 ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
STRATEGIC
GOAL: Open, Engaged & Responsive Government
RECOMMENDATION:
Provide direction to the City’s Delegate on the proposed Resolution to be considered at the League of CA Cities General Assembly Meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
BACKGROUND:
The League of California Cities (League) will be meeting in Long Beach for their Annual Conference from October 16-18, 2024. Council Member Andrew Chou is the City’s Delegate and Mayor Stan Liu is the Alternate Delegate. Council Member Chou will be attending the conference. As the City’s Delegate, Council Member Chou will have the opportunity to vote on matters presented at the General Assembly Meeting during the conference.
At this time, there is one (1) Resolution being presented to the General Assembly for consideration:
1. Resolution on Fair and Equal Treatment of All Government Officials at All Levels submitted by City of Glendora - A Resolution calling for the State Legislature to enact laws that ensure that “what applies to one, applies to all” in the fair and equal treatment of all government officials at all levels in the State of California.
A copy of the Resolution packet is included as Attachment 1. It is recommended that the Council discuss and provide direction on the Resolution so that Council Member Chou can appropriately represent the City’s position at the General Assembly Meeting.
ANALYSIS:
Fair and Equal Treatment – Recommendation to Support
This Resolution is sponsored by the City of Glendora, and supported by a number of San Gabriel Valley cities.
The Resolution states that the League of California Cities shall call upon the Governor of the State of California and the elected members of the California Legislature, including all members of the Senate and Assembly to adopt the following policy:
“The California State Legislature shall not enact, and the Governor shall not sign into law, any law or regulation that applies solely to elected officials of California cities and counties, unless such law or regulation also applies equally to members of the California State Assembly and Senate. This prohibition shall not apply to laws or regulations affecting the inherent powers of the legislative branch under the California Constitution.”
The resolution states examples of the California Legislature imposing rules limiting authority or regulating the conduct of local municipal officials that do not also apply to elected officials of the State of California include, including but are not limited to:
• California’s open meeting rules, codified in the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code, Chapter 9, §§ 54950 et seq.;
• “One-off” exemptions, in the form of Senate Bill No. 174, from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”);
• Rules, in the form of Senate Bill No. 1439, amending the Political Reform Act (the “Act”); and
• Rules, in the form of Assembly Bill No. 571, that apply to city and county candidates for local elected office, but not to candidates for state-wide office.
Additional Examples
The Legislature has passed and the Governor has signed many laws that apply to local governments and do not apply to the state or the state Legislature. This year AB 2561(McKinnor) was introduced, which requires local governments to present in a public meeting a detailed report about their vacancy rates and detailed information about their hiring practices. This is an attempt to address public sector vacancy rates.
This bill does not apply to the state in a time when they are also dealing with high vacancy rates.
Additionally, there were several bills that aim to amend the Levine Act, which now applies to local elected officials, to make changes to SB 1439, referenced previously in the analysis. None of the bills would amend the law to be applicable to Assembly Members or Senators.
AB 817 (Pacheco), co-sponsored by Cal Cities tried to bring parity to the Brown Act by making the teleconference rules for state advisory bodies the same for local advisory bodies but the Legislature struck the bill down.
Legislative Platform
While not specifically Legislation, the proposed Resolution most closely algins with Item 1A of the Diamond Bar Legislative Platform:
“Support any legislation that protects local control over matters of governance and funding of public services and infrastructure and oppose any legislation that reduces such authority.”
PREPARED BY:
REVIEWED BY:
Attachments:
1. 7.1.a FINAL 2024 Resolutions Packet