CITY OF SAN PABLO
City Council
1000 Gateway Avenue ● San Pablo, CA 94806
Main: 510-215-3000 ● Fax: 510-215-3011
www.SanPabloCA.gov
PROPOSED DRAFT FOR COUNCIL REVIEW
September 5, 2023
BY PERSONAL COURIER/U.S.REGULAR MAIL
Honorable Chris Ward
Member, California State Assembly
78th District
1021 O Street, Room 6350
Sacramento, CA 95814
With copies to:
Honorable Buffy Wicks
Member, California State Assembly
14th District
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Honorable Nancy Skinner
Member, California State Senate
9th District
1021 O Street, Suite 8630
Sacramento, CA 95814, CA 95814
RE: SUPPORT FOR ACA 13 (WARD) – VOTING THRESHOLDS
Dear Honorable State Legislators:
On September 5, 2023, the San Pablo City Council voted to formally support the proposed ACA-13 (Ward) measure which would require any constitutional amendment proposed by state-wide initiative that increases a vote requirement for future measures, be approved by the same proportion of votes cast as the measure would requi reACA-13 would also preserve the right of cities to p lace advisory questions of the ballot to ask voters their opinion on issues.
Under current law , a simple majority of voters (50% plus 1 vote) may vote to require a super majority (i.e. 66 and 2/3 rd %) voter approval for future action. This framework has given disproportionate power to a small number of voters, with a little more than 1/3 of the voters being able to prevent the enactment of laws that a majority voters agree upon.
In fact, a t the local l evel, this has made it unnecessarily difficult to pass local revenue measures supported by local voters dedicated to funding critical municipal services, such Honorable State Legislators
Re: SUPPORT FOR ACA 13 (WARD) – VOTING THRESHOLDS
September 5, 2023
as homelessness and housing, emergency medical services, fire protection services, community poli cing, and roads. For example, from 2001 -2018, local city revenue measures with a 2/3 vote requirement have enjoyed only a 51% passage rate, compared to a 70% passage rate of all local revenue meas ures over the same period of time. The status quo has prevented local cities from providing desperately needed critical local services.
ACA 13 addresses this issue by simply requiring any initiative that e nhances a voter requirement to pass by that same voter requirement. ACA 13 is a good government, fair proposal that protects the principles of democracy and majority rule.
For these above stated reasons, the City of San Pablo City Council supports ACA 13.
If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact me di rectly at [email protected], or San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez at [email protected].
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely:
Abel Pineda, Mayor
City of San Pablo
cc: San Pablo City Council
City Manager
City Attorney