Staff Report Exhibit O
Draft Arguments Against the Three Initiatives from
Mayor Pro Tem Blom
1 ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE ___
Measure ___ would provide that all seven Councilmembers get to vote on what happens in your neighborhood, but you only get to vote for one Councilmember.
Today, every Newport Beach voter may vote for every Council seat on the ballot every two years. Under Measure ___, you could vote for only one Councilmember, once every four years. You would lose your vote in six of seven Council races.
But all seven Councilmembers would still vote on decisions affecting you: public safety, taxes and fees, traffic, development, beaches, the harbor, infrastructure, and the City budget. Six Councilmembers could make decisions affecting your neighborhood without ever appearing on your ballot or needing your vote.
Proponents call this “real accountability. ” But o ff i c i a l s w h o n e v e r n e e d y o u r v o t e a r e n o t accountable to you. Councilmembers do not govern only their districts because every vote they cast affects all Newport Beach residents. Electing them through small, separate electorates could encourage narrow district interests and divide the City , making it harder for voters to hold a Council majority accountable.
This measure also guarantees no reduction in campaign spending. It establishes no spending limits and does not require campaigns to cost less.
Newport Beach does not need seven separate political islands because it already has district representation. Every Councilmember must reside in and be nominated by voters from the district represented . Our present system combines neighborhood representation with citywide voter accountability.
Do not surrender your right to vote for six of the seven people who govern the City.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE ___.
2 This Argument Against Measure ___, the District Voting Initiative, is executed in accordance with Elections Code Section 9283.
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
1 ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE ___
Vote NO on Measure ___. This measure does not limit politicians; it limits voters.
Newport Beach already has term limits. Council members may serve no more than two consecutive four-year terms and then must leave office for at least four years. A mandatory four-year break is not a “revolving door. ” It is a locked door for four years and prevents indefinite incumbency while preserving voters’ ability to consider a former Councilmember later.
Measure ___ replaces this rule with a lifetime ban. No matter how qualified or widely supported a former Councilmember may be, voters could never elect that person again. This measure disqualifies effective and ineffective Councilmembers alike and deprives future voters of experienced candidates who understand City operations.
Worse, the measure says that service of a partial term “of any duration” counts as a full four- year term. A resident appointed to fill a vacancy for weeks or months would be treated as though that person served four years. Treating a few weeks of service as four years is not strict term limits; its bad arithmetic. Will qualified residents interested in government service really accept these temporary appointments knowing it limits their potential ability to serve? Term limits should prevent entrenchment without depriving future voters of qualified candidates. The existing Charter does that by requiring a break after two consecutive terms and letting the voters decide whether a former Councilmember deserves to return.
Measure ___ substitutes a permanent prohibition for voter judgment, reduces the pool of qualified candidates, and sacrifices institutional knowledge.
Protect your right to choose. Vote NO on Measure ___.
2 This Argument Against Measure ___, the Term Limits Initiative, is executed in accordance with Elections Code Section 9283.
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE ___
Vote NO on over 30 pages of new laws and regulations.
Today, Newport Beach must comply with extensive statewide public meetings and document disclosure laws. This measure goes far beyond those statewide rules and adds more regulations, government bureaucracy and rigid mandates , impairing the City’s ability to protect taxpayers, employees, and residents.
The measure promises accountability but concentrates extraordinary power in one unelected official. The City Attorney would appoint, and could remove, every member of a Task Force formed to oversee the new mandates , while also advising the City, supervising records, deciding disclosure disputes, investigating employees, and providing the Task Force legal counsel. A Task Force appointed, advised and removable by the same official is not independent oversight.
This measure requires the funding of additional staff, technology, permanent record storage, outside attorneys, training, and administrative proceedings , with no cost limit and no identified funding source. Do we really need more unfunded costs and red tape? This measure requires the recording of certain closed session meetings and eventual release of those recordings to the public, which could potentially impact the decisions made in closed sessions. Do we really want rules that are advantageous to people suing the City and that could impact candid discussions by the officials trying to protect your tax dollars? This measure invites lawsuits and the recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs, which would need to be paid by the taxpayers. Any person could sue under this measure, and a prevailing plaintiff would receive attorneys’ fees and costs. Do we need more attorneys incentivized to file lawsuits?
Most troubling, the City Council could not correct unintended consequences. These 33 new Charter sections could be amended or repealed only through another citywide election.
Vote NO on this costly, inflexible, and litigation-prone measure.
This Argument Against Measure ___, the Public Meeting & Records Initiative, is executed in accordance with Elections Code Section 9283.
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach
Signed ___________________________________ Date _____________
for the City of Newport Beach