City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 11, 2024
Agenda Item: 11.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Nikima Newsome, Interim City Clerk, Records and Election Services Department
Subject: Adoption of Resolutions related to the General Municipal Election to be held on November 5, 2024
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council adopt:
1. A resolution calling for a General Municipal Election to be held on November 5, 2024; and
2. A resolution requesting that the Municipal Election be consolidated with the Los Angeles (LA) County Statewide General Election and request services from the LA County Registrar-Recorder for the General Municipal Election; and 3 A finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Executive Summary
Santa Monica’s next General Municipal Election will be held on November 5, 2024. In preparation for this election, staff asks Council to adopt two resolutions. The first resolution calls for the election to be held, and the second authorizes and requests that the election be consolidated with the LA County Statewide General Election and requests County election services.
Discussion
Section 1400 of the City Charter provides that General Municipal Elections for the filling of elective offices shall be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November of each even numbered year. The City of Santa Monica has been consolidating municipal elections and obtaining services from the LA County Registrar- 2 of 4
Recorder/County Clerk since the mid 1980’s. As a result, it is necessary to adopt resolutions calling the election and requesting consolidation with the Statewide General election and election services from the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The first resolution (Attachment A) calls for the General Election and gives notice that four City Council seats, one Rent Control Board seat for a full term and one Rent Control Board seat for a partial term, three Santa Monica-Malibu School District Board of Education seats, and three Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees seats are to be filled at the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election.
For the Rent Control Board seat with the partial term, the seat was vacated by the election of Rent Control Board Member Caroline Torosis to the City Council. As provided for in Section 1803(m) of the Rent Control Law (Article XVIII, Santa Monica City Charter), the Board appointed Member Lonnie Guinn to the vacancy with a term ending on November 5, 2024. As the appointee, Member Guinn was to hold the office until the next regular election and until a successor is elected.
If City staff have any items to present for the ballot, they will return with them at a later meeting. Staff is currently evaluating the feasibility of placing two tax measures on the ballot, the Business License Tax and the Parking Facility Tax, and will seek Council direction and approval at its June 25, 2024, meeting.
At the time this report was written, no initiatives have qualified to be placed on the ballot. All initiatives and City-sponsored ballot measures must be submitted to the County by August 9, 2024.
The second resolution (Attachment B) requests that the LA County Board of Supervisors approve the consolidation of the City’s General Municipal Election with the statewide General Election to be held on the same date, and that the statewide General Election and General Municipal Election be held in all respects as if there were one election. The resolution also requests that the LA County Board of Supervisors direct the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk to provide all necessary election services, to the extent determined necessary by the Santa Monica City Clerk/Elections 3 of 4
Official, to prepare, print, translate, and mail sample ballots and polling place information to the registered voters of the City.
City Clerk staff will host a Candidate Workshop in Council Chambers on the first day of the Nomination Period on July 15, 2024. The notice of the election will be published in the local newspapers and mailed to neighborhood groups. All election information will be available on www.santamonica.gov, and the election will be promoted in SaMoNews, the City’s social media sites and the local newspapers. The office will host a Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) workshop for Candidates/Treasurers on August 29, 2024, in Council Chambers. Staff will continue with voter registration efforts, including a voter outreach event on September 14 (location TBD) leading up to National Voter Registration Day, and prior to the October 21, 2024, voter registration deadline.
As with the Presidential Primary Election, the City’s five Vote-By-Mail Drop Boxes located at the Main Library, Montana Library, Virginia Avenue Park, Marine Park, and Ocean View Park will also be available for the election.
Environmental Review
The proposed election resolutions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply, where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. The resolutions are formal requests for election services from the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk and would not result in physical effects, and therefore, is exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Funding for election costs is included in the FY 2024-25 Proposed Budget, pending Council budget adoption at the June 25, 2024, meeting. Also included in the proposed budget is the reimbursement revenue for election costs related to non-City agencies such as the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Santa Monica Community College.
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Prepared By: Maria Dacanay, Acting Assistant City Clerk Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Proposed Resolution Calling the November 5, 20224 General Election B. Proposed Resolution Requesting LA County Services for the November 5, 2024 General Election