STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date:
December 9, 2025
BUSINESS
22 SUBJECT: QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY
COUNCIL TERM LIMITS
RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Receive, file, and accept the certification of sufficiency of petition of signatures as valid in all respects for the Ballot Measure Initiative titled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ADDING SECTION 2.04.080 TO THE LAGUNA
BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH TERM LIMITS FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS";
2. Adopt the Resolution, titled, ”A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH ON THE NOVEMBER 3, 2026 GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION BALLOT AN INITIATIVE MEASURE AMENDING THE CITY’S MUNICIPAL CODE TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL TERM LIMITS; REQUESTING THE COUNTY OF
ORANGE TO CONSOLIDATE SAID ELECTION WITH THE STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION OF EVEN DATE; AND SETTING RULES AND DEADLINES FOR ARGUMENTS AND REBUTTALS FOR AND AGAINST THE MEASURE.”
SUMMARY OF THE MATTER
On April 29, 2025, the City Clerk’s Office received a Notice of Intent to circulate an initiative petition from the initiative proponents (the “proponents”) seeking to qualify a measure in Laguna Beach that would enact City Council term limits. The initiative is written to set a two consecutive term limit with a two-year “cooling off” period before a person could again seek City Council office.
In accordance with California Elections Code Section 9203, the City Attorney prepared a Ballot Title and Summary for the proposed measure, and on May 28, 2025, the City Clerk submitted the Ballot Title and Summary to the initiative proponents and notified them of the 180-day signature gathering period to file a signed petition with the City Clerk’s Office. Pursuant to California Elections Code Section 9215, the initiative petition must be signed by not less than 10% of the registered voters of the City to qualify the measure for the ballot. Per the Orange Registrar Recorder/County Clerk’s (“OC Registrar”) official report of registration to the Secretary of State at the time the notice of intention was published, the number of registered voters in Laguna Beach was 18,179.
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
TERM LIMITS
December 9, 2025
As discussed below, the petition was returned to the City’s Elections Official (i.e., the City Clerk) on October 27, 2025, and the OC Registrar subsequently verified there were a sufficient number of signatures to qualify the measure on the ballot. Accordingly, and as also further discussed below, it is recommended that the City Council submit the measure to the voters at the City’s next General Municipal Election scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
DISCUSSION
The California Constitution reserves for the voters the right of the initiative power, which allows for voters of a specific jurisdiction to directly create or change laws—including local ordinances—by placement of a measure on a city ballot. “Initiative and referendum powers may be exercised by the electors of each city or county under procedures that the Legislature shall provide.” (Cal. Const. Art. 2, § 11(a)) Accordingly, the California Legislature has established procedures for the exercise of initiative powers by city voters. As described below, although initiative measures are largely regulated by the California Elections Code, ballot measures for term limits (including initiatives), in particular, are additionally regulated by a more specific provision in the Government Code. Government Code Section 36502(b), in short, requires the City Council to place a qualified initiative measure for term limits on the ballot at a regularly scheduled election only.
Term Limits Initiative Background
As noted above, on April 29, 2025, the proponents submitted to the City’s Elections Official (i.e., the City Clerk) a Notice of Intent to circulate an initiative petition, pursuant to California Elections Code Section 9202. As required by Section 9202, the proponents submitted the text of the initiative (“Initiative”) with the Notice of Intent. Initiative measures for an amendment to a city’s municipal code are submitted in the form of a proposed ordinance (see Elec. Code §§ 9200, 9201).
Here, the Initiative is a proposed ordinance to amend the Laguna Beach Municipal Code to create term limits on City Councilmembers. The proposed ordinance is attached hereto as Attachment 1.
After the City Clerk received the Notice of Intent and Initiative, the City Attorney prepared a Ballot Title and Summary for the proposed measure, in accordance with California Elections Code Section 9203. This required Ballot Title and Summary of the proposed Initiative is attached hereto as Attachment 2. As explained therein, the Initiative proposes a two-term limit on City Councilmembers; after two consecutive terms, a person seeking a City Council seat must then have a two-year cooling off period before he or she may again seek City Council office. This attachment explains the terms of the proposed Initiative in further detail.1
Thereafter, on May 15, 2025, the City Clerk submitted the Ballot Title and Summary to the Initiative proponents and notified them of the 180-day deadline to file a signed petition with the City Clerk’s Office.
Pursuant to California Elections Code Section 9215, an initiative petition must be signed by not less than 1 Under California law, a measure for term limits can apply prospectively only. (Gov. Code § 36502(b).)
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
TERM LIMITS
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10% of the registered voters of the City to qualify the measure for the ballot. Per the OC Registrar’s official report of registration to the Secretary of State at the time the notice of intention was published, the number of registered voters in Laguna Beach was 18,179.
The proponents had 180 days from receipt of the Ballot Title and Summary for signature gathering (Elec.
Code § 9208). On October 27, 2025, the Initiative proponents filed the signed petition with the City Clerk’s Office (see Attachment 3). Pursuant to the California Elections Code, the petition was examined by the City Clerk’s Office and subsequently sent to the OC Registrar for signature verification (see Attachment 4). As authorized under Elections Code sections 9115 and 9211, the OC Registrar conducted signature verification through the random sampling method of 500 petition signatures. Based upon that examination, 438 out of the 500 sampled signatures were verified as valid, equating to 87.6% validity rate. A total of 2,543 petition signatures were filed and, based upon the above validity rate, this equates to 2,227 signatures being valid.
Under State law, 1,818 voter signatures are required to qualify the measure for the ballot. On December 1, 2025, the City received notification from the OC Registrar’s Office that the signature verification process was complete. On December 4, 2025, the City Clerk’s Office notified the proponents via email that the petition had sufficient signatures to qualify the Initiative measure on the ballot.
The Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition from the County is attached to this report as Attachment
5. It is recommended that the City Council receive, file, and accept the certificate as valid in all respects.
Requirements for Placement on the Ballot
Typically, once a proposed initiative (e.g., a land use, regulatory or other municipal police power initiative measure) has obtained the required number of signatures to qualify the measure, the City Council has multiple options to proceed. Under Elections Code Section 9215, those options include that the City Council may (1) adopt the proposed measure "as is" (i.e., adopting the ordinance without taking the measure to the voters); (2) submit the measure "as is" to the voters, either at the general municipal election or at a special election that is between 88 and 103 days of the order of the election, pursuant to Elections Code Section 1405 (as cross-referenced in Section 9215(b)); or (3) order an additional report, pursuant to Elections Code Section 9212 (as cross-referenced in Section 9215(c)).
However, and as noted above, the California Government Code includes a provision that more specifically governs the consideration of a measure proposing term limits on City Council seats. Specifically, Government Code Section 36502, subdivision (b), governs the issue of term limits imposed on City Councils and is restated in pertinent part (with emphases added), below:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the city council of a general law or charter city may adopt or the residents of the city may propose, by initiative, a proposal to limit or repeal a limit on the number of terms a member of the city council may serve on the city council, …. Any proposal to limit the number of terms a member of the city council may serve on the city council, …, shall apply prospectively only and shall not become
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
TERM LIMITS
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operative unless it is submitted to the electors of the city at a regularly scheduled election and a majority of the votes cast on the question favor the adoption of the proposal.
When multiple statutes govern the same subject—as is the case here—they should be read together to harmonize them, where possible, and, where there is a conflict, the specific statute should prevail in matters it directly controls.
Here, the Elections Code technically allows the City Council to adopt a qualified initiative measure as an ordinance, without alteration, either at this meeting or within 10 days thereafter, thereby foregoing an election. If this were a land use, regulatory, or other type of initiative measure, this option would likely be available. (Elections Code § 9215(a).) However, Government Code section 36502(b) requires any municipal term limits measure, whether proposed by the City Council or by initiative petition, to be voter approved to become effective. Therefore, this Initiative measure must be placed before Laguna Beach voters for their approval, and outright adoption by the City Council is not a legal option in this case.
Similarly, the Elections Code also technically allows the Council to submit the Initiative measure to the voters at a Special Municipal Election to be scheduled on a Tuesday between 88 and 103 days following the Council’s order of the Special Election. (Elections Code §§ 9215(b), 1405(b).) Again, this may apply to other types of initiative measures. However, Government Code section 36502(b) requires a municipal term limits measure to be placed on a “regularly scheduled election” date. Pursuant to Laguna Beach Municipal Code Section 1.08.010, the “general municipal election for the city shall be held on the same day as the statewide general election in November of even-numbered years.” Note also that the Statewide Primary in 2026 will be held on June 2, 2026, which is more than 103 days from the date of this staff report; there is no other Statewide or County regular election within the 88-to-103 day window for which a special election called by the City could be consolidated from the date of this staff report. Accordingly, consolidation with the June 2, 2026, Statewide primary would not comply with Election Codes Section 1405, in any event.3
Accordingly, in reading Elections Code Section 9215 and Government Code Section 36502(b) together and reconciling conflicts in favor of Government Code Section 36502(b)’s more specific provisions, the City Council does not have the options under Election Code Sections 1405 or 9215 to either (1) adopt the Initiative as is without an election, or (2) to call a special election for the Initiative to occur before the City’s next regular General Municipal Election on November 3, 2026. The remaining options available to the City 3 Note that Section 2 of the proposed Initiative (see Attachment 1) references the June primary as the date of the election.
However, as explained, that is not a legally permissible option here and thus the matter will need to be placed on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Notwithstanding the November 2026 election date for the Initiative matter, if adopted by the voters at that election, the terms limits will apply to any persons elected to a City Council office at the November of 2026 election. (See Op.Atty.Gen. 11-401 (July 13, 2012), 2012 WL 2950130 [finding that if city voters enact an ordinance imposing a two-consecutive-term limit on incumbency on the Town Council and in the same election elect or re-elect members to the Town Council, where the terms of the newly elected and re-elected members commence shortly before the effective date of the term limit ordinance, the new term may be counted as the first of the two terms subject to the limitation, such that an incumbent Town Council member may serve consecutively his or her current term and one more].)
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
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December 9, 2025
Council under Section 9215 (and Section 1405, as cross-referenced in Section 9215) of the California Elections Code and Section 36502(b) of the California Government Code, are as follows:
1) Submit the Initiative measure to the voters at the City’s next General Municipal Election scheduled for Tuesday November 3, 2026 (since that is the only date which complies with both statutes with Elections Code Section 9215 and 1405 and Government Code Section 36502); or 2) Order staff to prepare a report on the Measure’s fiscal impact, effect on the General Plan, land use and housing, impact on infrastructure funding, and other related impacts on the City’s facilities and services, pursuant to Elections Code Section 9212 (as authorized by Election Code 9215(c)). If ordered, the report must be presented to the Council no later than 30 days after the City Clerk’s certifying the petition as sufficient (which occurred this evening).5 After the report is presented to the City Council, it must then call the election for Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Staff does not recommend that an impact report be prepared as this Initiative is predominantly an issue of democratic representation for the voters to decide. The fiscal, land use, and other impacts of a Council termlimits measure on the City’s day-to-day operations will be nominal and, irrespective of the outcome, the matter will ultimately be required to be submitted to the voters. Therefore, staff does not believe an impact report is needed to analyze the details of this term limits measure.
As a result, staff recommends the City Council schedule the Initiative measure for the November 3, 2026, General Municipal Election. Staff has included a Resolution calling the election for November 3, 2026, attached hereto as Attachment 6. The attached Resolution submits the Initiative to the voters at the November 3, 2026, General Municipal Election; requests the County to consolidate that election with the Statewide General Election of the same date; and sets the rules and deadlines for arguments and rebuttals for and against the measure.
The Resolution also includes the proposed Initiative to be submitted to the voters. Note that there were minor changes made to the Initiative due to scrivener’s errors in the original text. In particular, the following revisions were made to address those errors (strikeouts to reflect deletions, underlining/italicizing to reflect additions):
Section 3: “If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council people hereby declares that the they would have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof.” Added Section 5 and signature lines, to create the mechanism for the Ordinance to take effect upon approval by the voters6:
5 There is not a regular City Council meeting scheduled within 30 days of this staff report. 6 Government Code section 36932(a) requires an ordinance be signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk.
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
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“Section 5. Signature and Attestation of Ordinance.
The Mayor is hereby authorized to sign, and the City Clerk is hereby authorized to attest to the adoption of this Ordinance by the People voting on November 3, 2026, by signing where indicated below.
_______________________
________________, Mayor
Attest:
_____________________
ANN MARIE MCKAY
City Clerk”
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the Resolution attached as Attachment 6.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Submitting the proposed measure to the voters and consolidating the election on the measure with the November 2026 general municipal election is estimated by the OC Registrar to cost up to $55,000. It will be necessary to appropriate such funds for election expenses as part of the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Operating Budget. The Orange County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will invoice the City of Laguna Beach for Election Services after the General Municipal Election.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The proposed actions are not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines, as it is not a "project" and has no potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15378(a)). The placement of the measure on the ballot is not a discretionary action of the City Council within the meaning of CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines and is, therefore, not subject to CEQA review. See, Tuolumne Jobs and Small Business Alliance v. Superior Court, (2014) 59 Cal. 4th 1029. (See Tuolumne Jobs and Small Business Alliance v.
Superior Court, (2014) 59 Cal. 4th 1029.)
ATTACHMENTS
1. Proponent’s Submitted Initiative [An Ordinance of the People of the City of Laguna Beach, California, Adding Section 2.04.080 to the Laguna Beach Municipal Code to Establish Term Limits for City Council Members] (Pgs. x-x)
2. Ballot Title and Summary (Pgs. X-X)
3. City Clerk’s Receipt for Petition (Pgs. X-X)
4. City Clerk’s Letter to OC Registrar for Signature Verification (Pgs. X-X)
5. OC Registrar of Voters Certification (Pgs. X-X)
6. Resolution Submitting the Initiative to the Voters at the November 3, 2026; Requesting the County to Consolidate the Election with the Statewide General Election of the Same Date; and Setting the Rules and Deadlines for Arguments and Rebuttals For and Against the Measure (Pgs. X-X))
QUALIFICATION OF INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO ENACT CITY COUNCIL
TERM LIMITS
December 9, 2025
Submitted By: . Approved: .
Ann Marie McKay, City Clerk Dave Kiff, City Manager
Report Prepared By: Coordinated With:
Ann Marie McKay, City Clerk Megan Garibaldi, City Attorney