CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
February 5, 2024
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Gutierrez, Acting City Manager
Submitted By: Rosalia A. Butler, City Clerk
SUBJECT: VERIFICATION OF SUFFICIENCY OF PETITION SIGNATURES FOR INITIATIVE CHARTER AMENDMENT REQUIRING AT LEAST TEN PERCENT OF THE CITY’S ANNUAL UNRESTRICTED GENERAL PURPOSE REVENUES TO BE ALLOCATED TO CHILDREN AND YOUTH PROGRAMS AND SERVICES RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
Receive, file and accept the Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition; and Based upon the sufficiency of the petition, take one of the actions identified below:
Submit the initiative measure to the voters at the “next regular municipal election” occurring at least 88 days later; or Direct staff to prepare an impartial and informational report analyzing the impact of the initiative measure on the City’s finances, ability to provide public services, land use and development regulations, and the like.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Over the last several months, a group of Pomona residents has circulated a local initiative petition in the City seeking to amend the Pomona City Charter to require that at least ten percent (10%) of the City’s annual unrestricted general-purpose revenues be allocated to children and youth programs and services. On November 20, 2023, the proponent timely submitted a signed petition to the City Clerk’s Office to qualify the initiative charter amendment measure for the ballot. As required by State Elections Code, the City Clerk’s Office has verified that the petition is in proper format and contains the required number of signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. A Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition (Attachment No. 1) is attached to this report as a receive and file item.
Since the Measure has obtained the required number of signatures, the City Council’s options under the Elections Code are to either (1) place the measure on the November 5, 2024 Municipal General Election ballot, or (2) direct staff to prepare a report on the potential impact of the measure. Staff must present the report to the Council no more than 30 days later. After receiving the report, the Elections Code requires the Council to place the measure on the November 5, 2024 Municipal General Election ballot.
At this time, staff is requesting Council direction as to which option it wishes to pursue. Staff recommends that the Council order the 30-day report, since this measure may have a significant impact on the City’s finances. If the City Council wishes to place the Measure on the November 5, 2024 Municipal General Election ballot without a financial impact report, three resolutions are attached to this staff report for Council action.
FISCAL IMPACT: The estimated cost of holding an election for this measure on November 5, 2024 is currently unknown. However, the cost of the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election was approximately $388,000. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will invoice the City of Pomona for Election Services after the election.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
None.
BACKGROUND:
On May 15, 2023, the City received a Notice of Intent to Circulate a Petition and proposed initiative measure (“Measure”) from a group of Pomona residents who are the proponents of the Measure. If approved, the Measure would amend the Pomona City Charter to require that at least ten percent (10%) of the City’s annual unrestricted general-purpose revenues be allocated to children and youth programs and services, said funds to be administered by a new City Department of Children and Youth. The initial allocation would be 2% of the City’s revenues for the last six months of FY 2024-2025, and would ultimately increase to 10% of the City’s unrestricted general purpose revenues by FY 2030-2031.
Eligible children and youth services include programs for violence prevention, alternatives to incarceration, workforce development, parent/guardian support, education, well-being, environmental health, recreation, immigrant support (including legal services), and housing support services. Allocated revenues could not be used for law enforcement, detention, court, probation, Fire Department services or services primarily benefiting adults over 24 years of age.
Sections 904 and 1601(a) of the City’s Charter provide that local initiative measures to amend the City Charter shall follow the procedures set forth in the California Elections Code, except where in conflict with the Charter or Municipal Code. There are no conflicting provisions of the Charter or Code and, therefore, the Elections Code governs the City’s initiative procedure for proposing charter amendments. In accordance with the Elections Code, the City Attorney’s office timely prepared and sent a ballot title and summary of the Measure to the proponents on May 26, 2023. The proponents then had 6 months from receipt of the ballot title and summary to gather enough signatures to qualify the Measure for the ballot.
On November 20, 2023, the proponents timely submitted a signed petition to the City Clerk’s Office. As is standard practice, the City Clerk’s Office forwarded the signed petition to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters to verify the validity of the petition signatures.
On January 24, 2024, after County verification, the City Clerk’s Office notified the proponents that the petition contains 12,948 valid signatures. While local initiative ordinance measures typically only require the valid signatures of 10 percent of the City’s registered voters to qualify, Elections Code section 9255(c) sets a higher threshold for initiative charter amendment measures of 15 percent of the City’s registered voters. According to the latest official report, there are 74,017 registered voters in the City of Pomona and 12,948 signatures represent more than 15% of that number. Therefore, this initiative charter amendment has qualified for the ballot.
DISCUSSION:
The Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition is attached to this report and it is recommended that the City Council receive, file, and accept the Certificate as valid in all respects.
Since the Measure has obtained the required number of signatures, the City Council’s options under Elections Code sections 1415(b) and 9255(c) are as follows:
Submit the Measure to the voters “. . . at an established statewide general, statewide primary, or regularly scheduled municipal election . . . . occurring not less than 88 days after the date of the order of election.” The next “established statewide general election” and the next “regularly scheduled municipal election” occurring at least 88 days later will be on the same date – November 5, 2024. It is now too late to place a measure on the March 5, 2024 Statewide and Municipal Primary Election ballot.
Direct Staff to prepare an impartial and informational report analyzing the impact of the Measure on the City’s finances, ability to provide public services, land use and development regulations, and the like. Staff must present the report not later than 30 days after the City Clerk certifies to the Council that the petition is sufficient (by March 5, 2024). After receiving the report, the Elections Code requires the Council to place the Measure on the November 5, 2024 Statewide and Municipal General Election ballot.
At this time, staff is requesting Council direction as to which option it wishes to pursue. Staff recommends that the Council order the 30-day report, since this measure may have significant impacts on the City’s finances and ability to provide future programs and services. If the City Council wishes to place the Measure on the November 5, 2024 ballot, three resolutions are attached to this staff report for Council action (Attachment No.’s 2, 3 & 4).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment No. 1 – Certificate of Sufficiency of Initiative Petition Attachment No. 2 – Resolution Calling Municipal General Election on Charter Amendment Measure Attachment No. 3 – Resolution Requesting Consolidation of Municipal General Election Attachment No. 4 – Resolution Setting Argument/Rebuttal Rules and Deadlines for Election Sufficiency of Initiative Petition – Ballot Measure Re Children and Youth Fund