Ordinance No. 1123I ORDINANCE NO. 1123
2 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
3 VERNON ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR RECALLS PURSUANT
TO CHAPTER 5.4 OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF VERNON
4 AND DECLARING THAT SAID ORDINANCE SHALL TAKE EFFECT
IMMEDIATELY
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6 WHEREAS, Section 5.4 of the Charter of the City of Vernon
7 provides that the procedures for recall of municipal elective officers
8 shall be governed by ordinance of the City and that said ordinance
9 shall supersede certain provisions of the general laws of the State of
10 California governing the recall of municipal elective officers; and
11 WHEREAS, the City Council intends to adopt an ordinance
12 establishing procedures for the recall of municipal elective officers
13 as provided for in the Charter; and
14 WHEREAS, Section 4.3 of the Charter of the City of Vernon
15 allows an ordinance to be introduced and adopted at one meeting if it
16 relates to an election.
17 THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON HEREBY ORDAINS:
18 SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby
19 finds and determines that the recitals contained hereinabove are true
20 and correct.
21 SECTION 2: The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby
22 establishes and adopts procedures for the recall of municipal elective
23 officers as set forth in Exhibit A which is attached hereto and made a
24 Part hereof by reference.
25 SECTION 3: Any ordinance or parts of ordinances in conflict
26 with this Ordinance are hereby repealed.
27 SECTION 4: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
28 phrase or word of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be void or
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11 unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance; it being the intention of the
City Council of the City of Vernon to pass and adopt this Ordinance and
each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof
irrespective of the fact that one or more of the sections, subsections,
clauses, sentences or phrases thereof may be declared to be invalid or
unconstitutional.
SECTION 5: There being no newspaper printed, published or
circulated in the City of Vernon, the City Clerk is hereby directed to
certify to the passage of this Ordinance and shall post the same, or
cause the same to be posted, within fifteen (15) days after its passage
in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code, as well as
Vernon Code Sections 1.9 and 1.10, in three (3) of the most public
places in the City of Vernon, to wit: the northwest corner of 38th
Street and Santa Fe Avenue, the northeast corner of Leonis Boulevard
and Pacific Boulevard, and on the bulletin board located outside on the
wall near the second floor entrance to the City Hall of said City,
located at 4305 Santa Fe Avenue, all in the City of Vernon, County of
Los Angeles, State of California.
adoption.
SECTION 6: This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon]
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of October, 2006.
ATTEST:
l
BRUC V.'MALKENHORST, JR.
Actin -City Clerk
EONIS C. MAL RG, Mayor
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, JR., Acting City Clerk of the City of
Vernon, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance, being Ordinance
No. 1121 was duly and regularly introduced at a regular meeting of the
City Council of the City of Vernon, held on Wednesday, October 18,
2006, and thereafter was duly signed by the Mayor of the City of
Vernon, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmen: Mayor Malburg, Ybarra, Davis,
Gonzales, McCormick
(SEAL)
NOES: Councilmen: None
ABSTAINED: Councilmen: None
ABSENT: Councilmen: None
BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, JR.
Acting City Clerk
- 4 -
EXHIBIT
ul,
CITY OF VERNON
PROCEDURES
FOR
RECALLS
City of Vernon Ordinance No.1123
Adopted October 18, 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Proponents of recall; qualifications
2. Limitations on the commencement of recall proceedings
3. Contents
4. Service; filing; separate notice for each officer
5. Publication or posting; expense
6. Answer; service
7. Statement and answer; effect insufficiency on validity of election proceedings
8. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; notice of intention
9. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; contents of petition
10. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; filing of blank copies;
ascertainment of proper form and wording; notice
11. Petitions; affixation of signature and information by signer; margin
12. Separate petitions for each officer
13. Circulators or signers; qualifications
14. Time for filing
15. Number of qualified signatures required to qualify recall for ballot
16. Presentation for filing; count of signatures; acceptance for filing;
sections not filed; insufficient number of signatures
17. Determination of number of valid signatures; notice of sufficiency
or insufficiency; certification of results
18. Sufficiency of petition; certification to governing body; contents
19. Order by governing body
20. Time; consolidation with regular or special election
21. Conduct, canvass and declaration of results
22. One election for recall of several officers
23. Nomination of candidates to succeed recalled officers;
procedures; exceptions
24. Negative votes necessary for retention of office
25. Removal from office if majority vote for recall
26. Votes necessary to elect candidate after recall of officer
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(i)
1. Proponents of recall; qualifications
The proponents of a recall must be registered voters of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer
they seek to recall.
2. Limitations on the commencement of recall proceedings
Except when a person has been appointed to office because no person had been nominated to
office, proceedings may not be commenced against an officer of a city in the event of one or more of
any of the following:
(a) He or she has not held office during his current term for more than 120 days;
(b) A recall election has been determined in his or her favor within the last six months.
(c) His or her term of office ends within nine months or less.
3. Contents
The notice of intention shall contain all of the following:
(a) The name and title of the officer sought to be recalled.
(b) A statement, not exceeding 200 words in length, of the reasons for the proposed recall.
(c) The printed name, signature, and residence address of each of the proponents of the
recall. If a proponent cannot receive mail at the residence address, he or she must provide an
alternative mailing address. The minimum number of proponents is fifteen (15), or equal to the
number of signatures required to have been filed on the nomination paper of the officer sought to be
recalled, whichever is higher.
4. Service; filing; separate notice for each officer
A copy of the notice of intention shall be served by personal delivery, or by certified mail, on
the officer sought to be recalled. Within seven days of serving the notice of intention, the original
thereof shall be filed, along with an affidavit of the time and manner of service, with the elections
official or, in the case of the recall of a state officer, the Secretary of State. A separate notice of
intention shall be filed for each officer sought to be recalled.
5. Publication or posting; expense
A copy of the notice shall be published at the proponents' expense pursuant to Section 6061
of the Government Code. Publication shall be required unless there is no newspaper of general
circulation able to provide timely publication in the jurisdiction of the officer sought to be recalled.
If this publication is not possible, the notice shall be posted in at least three public places within the
jurisdiction of the officer to be recalled.
6. Answer; service
(a) Within twenty-one (21) days after the filing of the notice of intention, the officer
sought to be recalled may file with the elections official, or in the case of a state officer, the Secretary
of State, an answer, in not more than 200 words, to the statement of the proponents.
(b) If an answer is filed, the officer shall, within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the
notice of intention, also serve a copy of it, by personal delivery or by certified mail, on one of the
proponents named in the notice of intention.
(c) The answer shall be signed and shall be accompanied by the printed name and
business or residence address of the officer sought to be recalled.
7. Statement and answer; effect insufficiency on validity of election proceedings
The statement and answer are intended solely for the information of the voters. No
insufficiency in form or substance thereof shall affect the validity of the election proceedings.
8. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; notice of intention
(a) The petition may consist of any number of separate sections, which shall be duplicates
except as to signatures and matters required to be affixed by signers and circulators. The number of
signatures attached to each section shall be at the pleasure of the person soliciting the signatures.
(b) Each section of the petition may consist of any number of separate pages. A page
shall consist of each side of a sheet of paper on which any signatures appear.
9. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; contents of petition
(a) The proponents shall use the recall petition format provided by the Secretary of State
and available from the county elections official or the Secretary of State. Before any signature may
be affixed to a recall petition, each page of each section must bear all of the following in no less than
8-point type:
(1) A copy of the notice of intention, including the statement of grounds for
recall. For purposes of this paragraph, the copy of the notice of intention shall contain the names of
at least 10 recall proponents that appear on the notice of intention and that are selected by the
proponents. The elections official shall not require the names of more than fifteen (15) proponents
to be included as part of the language of the notice of intention.
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(2) The answer of the officer sought to be recalled, if any. If the officer sought to
be recalled has not answered, the petition shall so state.
(b) All petition sections shall be printed in uniform size and darkness with uniform
spacing.
10. Prerequisites to affixation of signatures; filing of blank copies; ascertainment of proper
form and wording; notice
(a) Within 10 days after filing of the answer to the notice of intention, or, if no answer is
filed, within 10 days after the expiration of the fourteen (14)-day period specified, the proponents
shall file two blank copies of the petition with the elections official in his or her office during normal
office hours as posted or, in the case of a recall of a state officer, with the Secretary of State, in his or
her office during normal office hours as posted, who shall ascertain if the proposed form and wording
of the petition meets the requirements of this chapter.
(b) At the time of the filing of the two blank copies of the petition, the proponents shall
also file proof of publication of the notice of intention, if the notice of intention was published, or an
affidavit of posting of the notice of intention, if the notice of intention was posted. The elections
official, shall, within thirty (30) days of receiving the blank copies of the petition, notify the
proponents in writing of his or her finding.
(c) If the elections official finds that the requirements of this chapter are not met, the
elections official shall include in his or her findings a statement as to what alterations in the petition
are necessary. The proponents shall, within 10 days after receiving the notification, file two blank
copies of the corrected petition with the elections official in his or her office during normal office
hours as posted. The 10-day correction notification period and the 10-day filing period for corrected
petitions shall be repeated until the elections official finds no alterations are required.
(d) No signature may be affixed to a recall petition until the elections official has notified
the proponents that the form and wording of the proposed petition meet the requirements of this
chapter.
11. Petitions; affixation of signature and information by signer; margin
(a) The petition sections shall be designed so that each signer shall personally affix all of
the following:
(1) His or her signature.
(2) His or her printed name.
(3) His or her residence address, giving street and number, or if no street or
number exists, adequate designation of residence so that the location may be readily ascertained.
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(4) The name of the incorporated city or unincorporated community in which he or
she resides.
(b) A margin, at least one inch wide, shall be left blank across the top of each page of the
petition. A margin, at least one-half inch wide, shall be left blank along the bottom of each page of
the petition.
(c) A space, at least one inch wide, shall be left blank after each name for the use of the
elections official in verifying the petition.
12. Separate petitions for each officer
Separate petitions are necessary to propose the recall of each officer.
13. Circulators or signers; qualifications
Only registered voters of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer sought to be recalled are
qualified to circulate or sign a recall petition for that officer.
14. Time for filing
(a) A recall petition shall be submitted to the elections official for filing in his or her
office during normal office hours as posted within the following number of days after the clerk
notifies the proponents that the form and wording of the petition meets the requirements of Article 3
(commencing with Section 11040) of Chapter 1:
(1)
(2)
a least 1,000.
(3)
but at least 5,000.
Forty days if the electoral jurisdiction has less than 1,000 registered voters.
Sixty days if the electoral jurisdiction has less than 5,000 registered voters but
Ninety days if the electoral jurisdiction has less than 10,000 registered voters
(4) One hundred twenty days if the electoral jurisdiction has less than 50,000
registered voters but a least 10,000.
(5) One hundred sixty days if the electoral jurisdiction has 50,000 registered voters
or more.
(b) For purposes of this section, the number of registered voters shall be that which was
reported at the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State
pursuant to Section 2187 and prior to a finding of the elections official or Secretary of State that no
alterations are required in the form of the recall petition pursuant to Section 11042.
In
15. Number of qualified signatures required to qualify recall for ballot
The number of qualified signatures required in order to qualify a recall for the ballot shall be
as follows:
(a) The number of signatures shall be equal in number to not less than the following
percent of the registered voters in the electoral jurisdiction:
(1) Forty percent if the registration is less than 1,000.
(2) Thirty-five percent if the registration is less than 10,000 but at least 1,000.
(3) Thirty percent if the registration is less than 50,000 but at least 10,000.
(4) Twenty-five percent if the registration is less than 100,000 but at least 50,000.
(5) Twenty percent if the registration is 100,000 or above.
(b) For purposes of this section, the number of registered voters shall be calculated as of
the time of the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State
pursuant to Section 2187, and prior to the finding by the elections official or Secretary of State that
no alternations are required in the form of the recall petition pursuant to Section 11042.
16. Presentation for filing; count of signatures; acceptance for filing; sections not filed;
insufficient number of signatures
(a) The petition shall be filed by the proponents, or by any person or persons authorized,
in writing, by a proponent. All sections of the petition shall be filed at the same time.
(b) When the petition is presented for filing, the elections official shall determine the total
number of signatures affixed to the petition. If, from this examination, the elections official
determines that the number of signatures, prima facie, equals or is in excess of the minimum number
of signatures required, the elections official shall accept the petition for filing. The petition shall be
deemed as filed on that date. Any sections of the petition not so filed shall be void for all purposes.
If, from the elections official's examination, the elections official determines that the number of
signatures, prima facie, does not equal or exceed the minimum number of signatures required, the
petition shall not be filed. Any petition not accepted for filing shall be returned to the proponents.
17. Determination of number of valid signatures; notice of sufficiency or insufficiency;
certification of results
(a) Except as provided in Section 11225, within sixty (60) days from the date of filing of
the petition, the elections official shall examine the petition, and from the records of registration,
ascertain whether or not the petition is signed by the requisite number of voters. If the elections
official's examination shows that the number of valid signatures is greater than the required number,
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the elections official shall certify the petition to be sufficient. If the number of valid signatures is less
than the required number, the elections official shall certify the petition to be insufficient.
(b) In determining the number of valid signatures, the elections official may use the
duplicate file of affidavits maintained, or may check the signatures against facsimiles of voters'
signatures, provided that the method of preparing and displaying the facsimiles complies with laws.
(c) The elections official shall attach to the petition a certificate showing the result of this
examination, and shall notify the proponents of either the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition.
(d) If the petition is found sufficient, the elections official shall certify the results of the
examination to the governing board at its next regular meeting.
18. Sufficiency of petition; certification to governing body; contents
If the elections official finds the signatures on the petition to be sufficient, he or she shall
submit his or her certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition to the governing body at its next
regular meeting. The certificate shall contain:
(a) The name of the officer whose recall is sought.
(b) The title of his or her office.
(c) The number of signatures required by law.
(d) The total number of signatures on the petition.
(e) The number of valid signatures on the petition.
(f) The number of signatures which were disqualified.
19. Order by governing body
Within twenty-eight days after the meeting at which the governing body received the
certificate of sufficiency, the governing body shall issue an order stating that an election shall be held
pursuant to this article to determine whether or not the officer named in the petition shall be recalled.
20. Time; consolidation with regular or special election
The election shall be held not less than 88, nor more than 125, days after the issuance of the
order, and if a regular or special election is to be held throughout the electoral jurisdiction of the
officer sought to be recalled within this time period, the recall election shall be held on the same day,
and consolidated with, the regular or special election.
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21. Conduct, canvass and declaration of results
A recall election shall be conducted, canvassed, and the results declared in substantially the
manner provided by law for a regular election for the office.
22. One election for recall of several officers
One election is sufficient for the recall of several officers.
23. Nominations of candidates to succeed recalled officer; procedures; exceptions
Nominations of candidates to succeed the recalled officer shall be made in the manner
prescribed for nominating a candidate to that office in a regular election insofar as that procedure is
consistent with this article.
The following exceptions shall be made to that procedure:
(a) The nomination papers and the declaration of candidacy shall, in each case, be filed
not less than 75 days prior to the date of the election and not before the day the order of the election
is issued. If the elections official is required to certify to the governing board the names of the
candidates to be placed on the ballot, that shall be done by the 71 sr day prior to the election.
(b) No person whose recall is being sought may be a candidate to succeed himself or
herself at a recall election nor to succeed any other member of the same governing board whose recall
is being sought at the same election.
24. Negative votes necessary for retention of office
If one-half or more of the votes at a recall election are "No", the officer sought to be recalled
shall continue in office.
25. Removal from office if majority vote for recall
If a majority of the votes on a recall proposal are "Yes", the officer sought to be recalled shall
be removed from office upon the qualification of his successor.
26. Votes necessary to elect candidate after recall of officer
If at a recall election an officer is recalled, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes
fails to qualify within 10 days after receiving his or her certificate of election, the office to which he
or she was elected shall be vacant, and shall be filled according to law.
W
SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTS
AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES) ss
CITY OF VERNON )
I, William Wilson, Code Enforcement Inspector, of the City of Vernon
do hereby certify that on the 24th day of October 2006, I did post
three (3) copies of:
ORDINANCE NO. 1123 - An Ordinance of the City Council of the City
of Vernon Establishing Procedures for Recalls Pursuant to Chapter
5.4 of the Charter of the City of Vernon and Declaring that Said
Ordinance Shall Take Effect Immediately.
On each of the following places, to wit: on the bulletin board outside
the main entrance to the City Hall of the City of Vernon located at
4305 Santa Fe Avenue; at the northwest corner of 38th Street and Santa
Fe Avenue; the northeast corner of Leonis Blvd., and Pacific Blvd.,
all in said City, there being no newspaper of general circulation
printed and published in the C'�t}y of Vernon.
Date: %o ?� CXQ �,(�Y�''Y�
William Wilson
Code Enforcement Inspector
State of California
)ss
County of Los Angels)
On bP/u 3� before me, 6F..t
U
personally appeared William Wilson
personally known to me (G- rr9 - - �� haC c r3
ewe) to be the person( whose nameL,s-) is/ -awe subscribed to the
instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she, executed the
same in his/h-ir authorized capacity, and that by his/fr�,�'''�.��
signature(.) on the instrument the person(-&), or the entity upon
behalf of which the person k-e) acted, executed the instrument.
W ESS my hand and official seal
MANUBAGNM
Convnwm #E 1611388 Ac�
Z ..- No"y PUM - Califallo
Los AngNst County
My Cantu. Expires Novi.
CERTIFICATE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) SS
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES)
I, Manuela Giron, Deputy City Clerk of the City of Vernon,
County of Los Angeles, State of California, hereby certify that
the attached is a full and complete copy of:
ORDINANCE NO. 1123 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON ESTABLISHING
PROCEDURES FOR RECALLS PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 5.4 OF
THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF VERNON AND DECLARING
THAT SAID ORDINANCE SHALL TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed
the official Seal of the City of Vernon, County of Los Angeles,
State of California, on this _��,day of October 2006.
SEAL:
Manuela Giron
Deputy City Clerk