1 City Council Meeting: March 24, 2026 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING CHAPTER 2.04 OF THE
SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO
CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTIONAL RULES
WHEREAS, Article XI of the Charter of the City of Santa Monica (City Charter), contains the establishing and enabling provisions of the Civil Service for City employees and Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 2.04 comprises the City’s Manual of Civil Service Rules and Regulations (Civil Service Rules); and WHEREAS, pursuant to Ordinance No. 2664 (CCS), for the November 3, 2020 General Municipal Election, the City Council placed before the voters Ballot Measure AB to remove from the City Charter the appointment and promotional rules contained in sections 1107 and 1108 and instead merge them with the existing Civil Service provisions in the Santa Monica Municipal Code that implement said rules, in order for the City to facilitate future amendments to the Civil Service Rules regarding hiring and promotional processes; and
WHEREAS, Measure AB was passed by the voters to amend City Charter section 1107 and repeal section 1108; and
WHEREAS, the amendments contained in this Ordinance are not intended to, and do not, alter terms and conditions of City employment; instead, these amendments: (1) are intended to follow through on the City’s intent upon passage of Measure AB to merge the appointment and promotional rules from the City Charter into the existing Civil Service provisions that implement said rules; (2) maintain the status quo relative to the City’s
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2 current hiring and promotional processes; and (3) remove outdated references in the Civil Service Rules to repealed City Charter section 1108;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.04.080 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Appointments or promotions to permanent positions in
the Classified Service shall be determined by competitive examination. Any exceptions must be authorized by the
Personnel Board, upon recommendation of the Director of Human Resources and the department head who is the
appointing authority for the permanent position. Competitive examinations will include the consideration and rating of any or all of the following factors: education, experience, knowledge, skill, special aptitude, general adaptability, physical or psychological fitness as provided by applicable law, and such other qualifications as are considered
necessary by the Human Resources Director for satisfactory performance. Examinations shall be administered fairly to all invited applicants who participate in the examination. The identity of applicants shall be protected when scoring written examinations. Promotional examinations shall be limited to non-probationary employees with permanent Civil Service
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3 status who have the required experience and meet the
qualifications for the position. Promotions shall be on the basis of ascertained merit, credit, and seniority in service and examination, in accordance with section 2.04.240.
Applicants may be tested together or separately.
Examinations may consist of written tests, performance
tests, evaluation of qualifications, or oral tests, or any combination of these.
Credit shall be allowed for seniority as set forth in an administrative instruction.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.04.140 is hereby amended to read as follows:
All appointments to a cClassified civil sService
position must be made from one of the lists of eligible applicants described in Section 1108 of the City Charter below.
An examination shall be held as soon as feasible to
establish an eligibility list when there is no re-employment list, transfer list, promotional list, or open competitive eligible list available with which to fill a vacant position. Eligibility lists shall be used by the Human Resources Director to fill vacant positions in the following order:
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4 (a) Re-employment list;
(b) Transfer list;
(c) Promotional list;
(d) Open competitive list.
The names of the three highest ranking eligibles shall
be certified to the department head for the selection from a transfer list or a promotional list. The names of the eligibles in the top three bands shall be certified to the department head from an open competitive list. Only the highest ranking name shall be certified from a re-employment list. No
candidate may be certified more than three times for any one Classified Service position.
SECTION 3. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.04.180 is hereby amended to read as follows:
When an eligible list for a particular classification is not available, or to otherwise meet the needs of public business, the appointing authority may make a temporary appointment for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty 180 calendar days pursuant to Charter Section 1108, or nine hundred sixty 960 hours per fiscal year consistent with applicable State law, subject to the approval of the Human
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5 Resources Director and the City Manager and in accordance with rules adopted by the Personnel Board.
SECTION 4. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.04.250 is hereby amended to read as follows:
The appointing authority shall use an open
competitive list to fill a vacancy when it cannot be filled by using a reemployment or promotional list. If less than three bands are on an open competitive list, the appointing
authority may request the establishment of a new eligible list.
SECTION 5. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 7. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
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6 newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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HEIDI VON TONGELN
Interim City Attorney
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