City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: July 12, 2022
Agenda Item: 11.D
1 of 4
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk, Records and Election Services Department
Douglas Sloan, City Attorney, City Attorney's Office
Subject: Certification of Qualified Initiative Petition Measure to Establish Added Funding for Homelessness Prevention, Affordable Housing, and Schools and Adoption of Resolution to Place Measure on the November 8, 2022 Ballot Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Receive and file the attached Certification of Qualification regarding an Initiative Measure to Establish Added Funding for Homelessness Prevention, Affordable Housing, and Schools by Amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.96 to provide a Third Tier Transfer Tax Rate for Property Transfers of $8,000,000 or more with an Eleven-Member Resident Oversight Committee;
2. Adopt the attached resolution requesting and directing the actions necessary to place the measure on the November 8, 2022 General Municipal ballot.
Executive Summary
On June 15, 2022, an Initiative Measure to Establish Added Funding for Homelessness Prevention, Affordable Housing, and Schools by Amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.96 to provide a Third Tier Transfer Tax Rate for Property Transfers of $8,000,000 or more with an Eleven-Member Resident Oversight Committee was submitted to the Office of the City Clerk and forwarded to the County RegistrarRecorder (“the County) for signature verification. On July 1, 2022, the County notified the City Clerk’s Office that the measure was being certified as containing the required number of signatures for placement on the ballot. At the June 14, 2022 City Council 2 of 4
meeting, Council requested a report pursuant to Election Code 9212 from the City Manager on this ballot measure, which will be presented at the July 26th meeting.
Accordingly, staff recommends that Council receive and file the certification and adopt the attached resolution, which requests and directs the actions necessary to place the initiative on the November 8, 2022, ballot.
Discussion
California Elections Code section 9215 authorizes the governing body of a city to place proposed initiative ballot measures on the ballot, the measure shall be submitted to the voters at an established statewide general election occurring in not less than 88 days.
The section establishes that the action of placing the certified petition on the ballot is ministerial, not discretionary. Thus, if the County certifies the petition, the law requires the City Council to send the measure to the voters.
On March 10, 2022, proponents of the measure notified the City Clerk’s Office of their intent to circulate an initiative petition. On March 23, 2022, the City Attorney prepared a ballot title and summary, as required by law, which describes the measure as an Initiative Measure to Establish Added Funding for Homelessness Prevention, Affordable Housing, and Schools by Amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.96 to provide a third tier Transfer Tax Rate for Property Transfers of $8,000,000 or more with an Eleven-Member Resident Oversight Committee. Thereafter, the proponents gathered signatures, and filed their signed petition with the City Clerk’s Office on June 15, 2022.
Upon submittal of the petition, the City Clerk requested the Los Angeles County Clerk/Registrar Recorder (“County Clerk”) verify the signatures submittal therein. In order to qualify the measure for the November 2022 election, the petition needed a minimum of 10% of the registered voters of the city. The registered voter population at the time of publishing was 69,292 and based on that number 6,930 valid signatures were needed for qualification. The County Clerk’s Office has verified that the petitions 3 of 4
contain the minimum number of valid signatures required to place the proposed ordinance on the ballot for a public vote.
On July 1, 2022, the County notified the City Clerk that the measure had received the required number of signatures, which is 10% of the voters or 6,930. The County found that 10,363 signatures were filed, three signatures were withdrawn, 8,413 signatures were verified, 6,940 were found sufficient, 1,473 were not found sufficient, and 109 signatures were found not sufficient because the signatures were duplicates. See Attachment C.
The next statewide general election will occur on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. This measure could appear as an additional item on the ballot, which will include other contests, including federal, state, county, and local races and at least five other local measures. Thus, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution to place the measure on that ballot.
Next Steps
Next steps are specified as requests and directives in the attached resolution. In summary, once the Council adopts the resolution, arguments for and against the measure will be prepared, the City Attorney will prepare an impartial analysis, and the City Clerk will transmit the materials to the County, which will prepare the ballot. The County will prepare and distribute the voter sample ballot. In addition, the 30-day report will be presented to Council at the July 26th meeting.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Costs related to implementation of the measure is unknown at this time. Funding is available in the FY 2022-23 Adopted Budget in account number 01110002.552010 (Professional Services) under the Elections Division of the Records & Election Services/City Clerk's Department.
4 of 4
Prepared By: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. RES Initiative Ballot Measure 07122022 Final
B. Full text
C. Santa Monica_Letter of Findings_7.1.2022