ID 26-1030 - Resolution - updated — Fresno City Council, July 30, 2026

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1. The City Council submits to the electors of the City of Fresno at its special municipal election to be consolidated with the statewide general election to be held on Nov. 3, 2026, a ballot measure proposing to amend the Charter of the City of Fresno as set forth in Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

2. The City requests that the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters conduct the election and canvass the returns, and the City agrees to pay the proportionate share of reasonable expenses of said election, said share to consist of all direct costs as determined by the Fresno County Clerk/ Registrar of Voters to be directly related to the conduct of the City of Fresno' special municipal election together with the City's proportionate share of the expenses for election services rendered by Fresno County that are being shared equally with other jurisdictions, if any, by virtue of the consolidation of the City's special municipal election with the elections being held by other jurisdictions, if any, in the City of Fresno on November 3, 2026.

3. At the statewide general election to be held on November 3, 2026, the following question shall be submitted to registered voters of the City of Fresno and shall be printed on the election ballot in the form set forth as follows:

FRESNO TERM LIMITS CHARTER AMENDMENT: Shall the City of Fresno Charter be amended to prohibit termed- out elected officers from returning to office for life, limiting Mayors and Councilmembers to no more than three terms per office?
YES

4. The following constitutes the synopsis of the Measure to be voted on for purposes of meeting the publication requirements of Elections Code Section 12111:

MEASURE TO BE VOTED UPON

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Notice is hereby given that the following measure is to be voted on at the special municipal election to be held in the City of Fresno, on Tuesday, the 3rd of November 2026.

APPROVAL OF FRESNO GOOD GOVERNANCE CHARTER AMENDMENTS

The measure proposes amending City of Fresno Charter, Article III § 303.1 to enforce a lifetime prohibition on termed-out elected city officers (Mayor and Councilmembers) from serving additional terms after reaching their term limit, which would be amended to three consecutive terms or a total of 12 years of service.

5. The full text of the Measure submitted to the voters is attached as Exhibit A and by this reference incorporated herein. The full text of the Measure is not required to be printed in the Sample Ballot and Voters Pamphlet. However, the full text of the measure shall be made available at the Office of the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters and the Office of the Fresno City Clerk.

6. The measure shall be designated on the ballot by a letter as provided in Elections Code Section 13116. This measure shall be designated by letter by the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters.

7. Passage of the Measure requires a simple majority of votes from qualified voters of the City voting in the election.

8. In all particulars not recited in this resolution, the election shall be held and conducted as provided by law for holding municipal elections.

9. Arguments in favor or against the proposed measure are permissible and shall be filed with the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar in accordance with Elections Code Section 9281 or as provided for the consolidated election. Councilmembers voting in the majority for this resolution and the Mayor are authorized, but not required, to file arguments in favor of the proposed measure. They are also authorized to provide input

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to the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar in determining a letter designation for this Measure.

Rebuttal arguments shall be permitted pursuant to applicable law.

10. Pursuant to Elections Code section 9280, the City Council hereby directs the City Clerk to transmit a copy of the Measure to the City Attorney, and the City Attorney shall prepare an impartial analysis of the Measure in accordance with Elections Code section 9280 and file it with the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters.

11. The City Clerk shall file a certified copy of this resolution with the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters as required by applicable law. The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to work with the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters and take all steps necessary to cause placement of the Measure and any associated arguments, analysis, synopsis, summary, or ballot question on the ballot.

12. The City Clerk and City Attorney are authorized to make any typographical, clerical, non-substantive corrections to this resolution and the Measure to be placed on the ballot as may be deemed necessary by the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters.

13. The adoption of this Resolution is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, Public Resources Code §§ 21000 et seq. (CEQA) and 14 Cal. Code Reg. §§ 15000 et seq. (CEQA Guidelines). The calling and noticing of a Special Municipal Election for the submission of a ballot measure to voters is not a project within the meaning of CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. The ballot measure submitted to the voters is for a general tax that can be used for any governmental purpose; it is not a commitment to any particular action or actions. As such, under CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(4), the potential tax increase is not a project within the meaning of CEQA because, if approved, the tax increase simply creates a government funding mechanism that does not involv e

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any commitment to any specific project that may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.

14. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Resolution or its application to any person or circumstance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Resolution or its application to other persons and circumstances. The City Council of the City of Fresno hereby declares that it would have adopted this Resolution and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional and, to that end, the provisions hereof ar e hereby declared to be severable.

15. This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon adoption.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF FRESNO ) ss.

CITY OF FRESNO )
I, AMY K. ALLER , City Clerk of the City of Fresno, certify that the foregoing ordinance was adopted by the Council of the City of Fresno, at a regular meeting held on the day of 2026.

AYES :

NOES :

ABSENT :

ABSTAIN :

Mayor Approval: , 2026
Mayor Approval/No Return: , 2026
Mayor Veto: , 2026
Council Override Vote: , 2026

AMY K. ALLER
City Clerk

By:

Deputy Date
APPROVED AS TO FORM:

ANDREW JANZ
City Attorney

By:

Andrew Janz D ate
City Attorney

Attachment:

Exhibit A

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EXHIBIT A TO RESOLUTION NO.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTER OF CITY

OF FRESNO TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE CITY ELECTORS

AS A BALLOT MEASURE AT THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL
ELECTION TO BE HELD ON NOV. 3, 2026

Article III Elected Officers , Sec. 303.1 - Limitation of Terms of Office shall be amended as follows:
[No person elected to the office of Councilmember or Mayor for two successive terms shall again be eligible to hold that same office until one full term has intervened.

This limitation applies to terms to which persons had been elected or appointed after May, 1985.]
[(a.) During his or her lifetime, a person elected to the office of Councilmember or Mayor may serve up to, but no more than, three successive full terms or a total 12 years in the same office. This limitation applies to terms or years of service to which persons have been elected or appointed after May 1985.
(b.) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person elected in a special election to serve the remainder of an unexpired term of Mayor or Councilmember of two years or less may thereafter be elected to three successive full terms in that office. Service in the unexpired term of two years or less shall not count toward the limitations set forth in subsection (a).]

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