APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
INTRODUCED BY CITY CLERK ASHA REED ___________________________ CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
ORDINANCE NO. ________________C.M.S.
ORDINANCE AMENDING OAKLAND MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS:
1) 3.08.040 (NOMINATION PETITIONS) TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY
CLERK TO EXTEND NORMAL OFFI CE HOURS ON THE FINAL DAY
OF THE NOMINATION PERIOD FOR AN ELECTION, TO EXPLICITLY
ADOPT THE STATE LAW EXTE NSION OF TIME TO FILE
NOMINATION PETITIONS, AND TO UPDATE THE LANGUAGE TO
REQUIRE CANDIDATES TO RETU RN NOMINATION MATERIALS IN
PERSON CONSISTENT WITH EXISTING PRACTICE; AND
2) 3.08.080 (QUALIFICATIONS STATEMENT) TO ADD REQUIREMENT
THAT SPONSORS ARE REGISTER ED VOTERS CONSISTENT WITH
REQUIREMENT FOR NOMINATION PETITION SIGNATURES
WHEREAS, the City of Oakland is a Charter City, entitled under the California Constitution Article XI, Section 5 to enact its own provisions governing the conduct of City elections; and
WHEREAS, currently the Oakland Municipal Code provides that nomination paperwork for City elections must be filed by 5:00 p.m.; and
WHEREAS, Elections Code section 10220 allows more flexibility for nomination paperwork to be filed “during normal office hours, as posted;” and
WHEREAS, it may be appropriate for the City Cl erk to extend their normal office hours on the final day for filing as a candidate in a City Election in order to ensure that all candidate paperwork can be processed in a timely manner; and
WHEREAS, Elections Code section 10225 provides for an extension of the nomination period where an incumbent that is eligible to run for reelection does not file to run for their position; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to confir m that this extension is also applicable to City Elections; and
2 WHEREAS, the City Clerk has requested that candidates return nomination materials in person and the Oakland Municipal Code contains out dated language that is inconsistent with the City Clerk’s current practice; and
WHEREAS, sponsors have previously only been requi red to be residents of the City and the County Registrar of Voters does not provide su ch verification if spon sors are not otherwise registered voters; and
WHEREAS, the City Clerk wishes to preserve the tradition and requirement that candidates obtain sponsors to support their candidacy independent of the nomination signatures requirement; and
WHEREAS, adding the requirement that sponsors be registered voters will allow for the County to verify sponsors and creates consistency with the requirement for nomination signatures; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Title 3 Municipal Elections, Chapter 3.08 Elections, Article II Elections for Elected Office, Sections 3.08.040 Nomination petitions, and 3.08.080 Qualifications statement, of the Oakland Municipal Code are hereby amended to read as follows (additions are shown in underline; deletions are shown as strikethrough):
3.08.040 - Nomination petitions.
The City Clerk shall prepar e and issue nomination petiti ons to all candidates for municipal office. Nomination pe titions shall be obt ained from and issued by the City Clerk or his or her authorized representative.
The period for the filing of nomination documents by candid ates in municipal elections consolidated with the regularly scheduled state electi ons shall commence on the one hundred thirteenth day prior to the election. The nomi nation document for municipal elections cons olidated with regularl y scheduled state elec tions shall be filed in the Office of the City Clerk not later than five p.m. on the eigh ty-eighth day prior to the election during no rmal office hours.
Notwithstanding the above, if nomination papers for an incumbent officer of the city are not properly filed by or on the eighty-eighth day before the election, the voters shall have until the eighty-third day before the election during normal office hours to nominate candidates other than the person who was the incumbent on the 88th day, for that incumbent’s elective office. This extension is not applicable where the incumbent is not eligible for the upcoming election.
3 The City Clerk may, in thei r discretion, exte nd normal office hours for the final day of filing. Su ch hours shall be announ ced by posting on the City Clerk’s website no later than twenty-four hours in advance of the deadline for filing.
The City Clerk shall issu e forty (40) nomination pe titions to each candidate containing adequate space for fi ve signatures per page, for a total of two hundred (200) signatures and no add itional nomination petiti ons will be issued to any candidate(s).
The City Clerk shall accept up to forty (4 0) nomination petitions from each candidate for verification. Nomi nation petitions shall may be issued to an d returned by the candidate(s) only, in person, or by to an authorized repres entative in possession of a written request of author ization to receive or return the nomination petitions, signed and dated by the candidate(s) . Nomination petitions may only be returned by the candidate(s), in person, an d must be signed and da ted by the candidate(s).
For district offices, nomina tion petitions shall bear the signatures of not less than fifty (50) nor mo re than one hundred ( 100) registered voters of the city who are residents of the district of the office for which the candidat e seeks nomination.
For city-wide offices, nomina tion petitions shal l bear the signatur es of not less than fifty (50) nor mo re than one hundred ( 100) registered voters who are residents of the city.
Candidates must file original nominatio n petitions issued by the City Clerk, no copies will be accepted by the City Clerk.
3.08.080 - Qualifications statement.
At the time his or her no mination petitions are filed, every candidate shall file with the City Clerk a verified statement of hi s or her qualifications on a form provided by the City Clerk, setting forth her or his name, the office for wh ich he or she is a candidate, his or her place of residency for the past five years, his or her occupation for the past five years, public of fices he or she has held, if any, and a brief description not to exceed one hundred fifty (150) words desc ribing his or her qualifications for the office, including, for example, education and expe rience. The City Clerk shall reject any statement which includes any of the matters prohibite d by general law or which contains any referenc e whatsoever to any partisan political party or organization including membership or activity therein, or endorsement thereby. Such statement shall also contain the signatures and addresses of no t less than ten nor mo re than twenty (20) registered voters that are residents of the city sponsoring such ca ndidate, who need not have signed such candidate's nomination petition. Such candid ate may also file with his or her qualifications statemen t a true and accurate portrait photograph of such candidate taken within two years prior thereto and suita ble for newsprint. Th e photograph must be at least four by six inches in size. A copy of su ch qualifications statement and a reproduction of the phot ograph, if furnished, shall be mailed by th e City Clerk to each qualified elector with th e sample ballot for said electi on. The qualifica tions statement mailed by the City Clerk with the sample ba llot shall be printed an d distributed without 4 the inclusion of the addresses of the candidate and his or her sponsors. No qualifications statement shall be filed by candidates at a second or general municipal election following the nominating municipa l election or shall any qualifications statement or photograph be dist ributed to the voters by th e City Clerk prior to such second election.
SECTION 2. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section, subsection, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more other sections, subsections, clauses or phrases may be declared invalid or unconstitutional
SECTION 3. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective immediately on final adoption if it receives six or more affirmative votes; otherwise it shall become effective upon the seventh day after final adoption.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES – FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
Date of Attestation:
NOTICE AND DIGEST
ORDINANCE AMENDING OAKLAND MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS:
1) 3.08.040 (NOMINATION PETITIONS) TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY
CLERK TO EXTEND NORMAL OFFI CE HOURS ON THE FINAL DAY
OF THE NOMINATION PERIOD FOR AN ELECTION, TO EXPLICITLY
ADOPT THE STATE LAW EXTE NSION OF TIME TO FILE
NOMINATION PETITIONS, AND TO UPDATE THE LANGUAGE TO
REQUIRE CANDIDATES TO RETU RN NOMINATION MATERIALS IN
PERSON CONSISTENT WITH EXISTING PRACTICE; AND
2) 3.08.080 (QUALIFICATIONS STATEMENT) TO ADD REQUIREMENT
THAT SPONSORS ARE REGISTER ED VOTERS CONSISTENT WITH
REQUIREMENT FOR NOMINATION PETITION SIGNATURES
This ordinance grants the City Clerk authority to extend th eir normal office hours on the final day for filing nomination paperwork in order to ensure that all candi date paperwork can be processed. State law provides for an extension of the nomination period where an incumbent that is eligible to run for reelection does not file to run for their position. This ordinance confirms that this extension is also applicable to City Elections . This ordinance also requires candidates to file their nomination paperwork in person and adds the requirement that sponsors be registered voters.