City of Vallejo Repeal of Binding Arbitration, 2010
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A Repeal of Binding Arbitration ballot proposition may be on the June 2010 ballot in Solano County for voters in the City of Vallejo.[1]
The ballot proposition, if it passes, would eliminate Vallejo's binding arbitration employee dispute resolution process. The Vallejo Charter Review Committee met for several months to debate about whether to recommend a ballot measure to delete from the city charter the current language that it contains that sets out a binding arbitration process for employee dispute resolution that some have grown to believe is overly burdensome and expensive.
Citizen initiative
A citizen's group, Citizens for Vallejo, circulated a petition in 2008 to qualify a similar measure for the Vallejo ballot. However, election officials in the city declared that their petition fell 201 signatures short of the number required to place it on the ballot. In June 2009, the group filed a lawsuit, Citizens for Vallejo v. Solano County, saying that the October 2008 decision by the city that their petition didn't have enough signatures was an illegal decision.[2]
The group collected 9,600 signatures, but the Solano County Registrar of Voters said that about 2,700 of these signatures were invalid, causing the petition to be about 200 short of the required number.
The lawsuit says that the Solano County Registrar erred in three different ways in disqualifying petition signatures:
- The Registrar changed the required number of signatures.
- The Registrar invalidated 42 signatures due to an incorrect date on some petition pages.
- The Registrar made a "series of mistakes".[2]
If Citizens for Vallejo wins this lawsuit, their measure could go on the November 3, 2009 ballot.
A court date to hear the lawsuit has been set for August 12.[3]
Bankruptcy
The Vallejo City Council voted 7-0 in May 2008 to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, attracting national headlines for becoming what was at that time the largest city in California to file for bankruptcy.[4] Vallejo spent 74% of its $80 million general fund budget in 2007 on public safety salaries, which according to the San Francisco Chronicle, is "significantly higher than the state average."
Another contributing factor to the city's dire financial situation that has been cited are future pension outlays required under the city's generous public employee contracts. These are thought not to be sustainable going into the future.[5]
Cost of election
Vallejo, a city of about 117,000 residents, has about 53,000 registered voters. The cost of holding the election is estimated to be about $375,000.[1]
See also
External links
- Solano County board of elections
- Official City of Vallejo website
- Official website of "Citizens for Vallejo"
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Times Herald, "Ballot measures may cost city $375,000", June 28, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Contra Costa Times, "Citizens group sues Vallejo over rejection of its petition", July 5, 2009
- ↑ Solano Times Herald, "Court date Aug. 12 in measure dispute", July 30, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Vallejo votes to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy", May 7, 2008
- ↑ USA Today, "Economy hobbles Calif. town", July 22, 2008
