Redwood City, California, Measure OO, Charter Amendment Updates (November 2018)

• Text of measure
  • Ballot question
• Path to the ballot
• See also
  • External links
  • Footnotes
• More
  • Local ballot measures
  • State ballot measures
  • Local politics

Measure OO: Redwood City Charter Amendment Updates
The basics
Election date:
November 6, 2018
Status:
a Approved
Topic:
Local charter amendments
Related articles
Local charter amendments on the ballot November 6, 2018 ballot measures in California San Mateo County, California ballot measures Local governance on the ballot
See also
Redwood City, California

A measure designed to update the city charter was on the ballot for Redwood City voters in San Mateo County, California, on November 6, 2018. It was approved.

A yes vote was a vote in favor of authorizing updates to the city charter regarding term limits, public notice procedures, budget adoption, the offices of the city clerk and city manager, consolidation of financial offices, and other provisions.

A no vote was a vote against authorizing updates to the city charter.

Election results

Redwood City, California, Measure OO, Charter Amendment Updates (November 2018)
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		20,606	77.54%
No		5,968	22.46%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question was as follows:

“

Shall the measure amending the Charter to update certain provisions, including modernizing public notice provisions, establishing terms limits for City boards, requiring the budget to be submitted to Council 30 days before the new fiscal year, having the City Clerk appointed by the City Manager, eliminating a residency requirement for City Manager to comply with State law, updating procedures for City payments, and consolidating the roles of Director of Finance and Treasurer, be adopted?

”

Impartial analysis

The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Redwood City City Attorney:

“	The City Council of Redwood City voted 6-1 to place Measure OO on the ballot, If approved by the voters, Measure OO would update and modernize several provisions of the City's Charter. A city charter operates as a city's "constitution" and governs municipal affairs. The Redwood City Charter was first adopted in 1929 and has been amended sixteen times since then, most recently in 2011. In 2017 and 2018, the City undertook a comprehensive review of proposed amendments to the Charter in an effort to modernize certain provisions and increase efficiency. The Charter Review Sub-Committee met five times to discuss amendments and receive public input, and the City Council reviewed proposed amendments at three meetings. Measure OO would make several changes to the Charter, including: Term Limits for Boards/Commissions. Currently there are no term limits for serving on City boards or commissions. The measure would limit a person from being appointed for more than four full consecutive terms, similar to City Council term limits. Public Notice Procedures. The measure would replace outdated and impracticable public notice procedures in the Charter, which generally require notices to be printed in an official newspaper, with provisions allowing the City Council to establish notices procedures by ordinance. This would allow notice procedures to change with evolving technology and demands of residents. The change would apply to notices related to the sale of Port property; the filing of initiative, referendum, and recall petitions; the availablity of the budget for public inspection; and adoption of ordinances. Budget Adoption Procedures. The measure would replace requirements that the City Council pass motions every year to establish dates for adopting the budget and instead establish set deadlines in the Charter. Under the change, the City Manager would be required to submit the budget to the City Council 30 days before a new fiscal year begins, and the City Council would be required to adopt the budget before the beginning of a new fiscal year. This removes unnecessary procedural hurdles while preserving transparency and public input. City Clerk. Under the measure, the City Clerk would be appointed by the City Manager rather than the City Council City Manager. The measure would eliminate the requirement that the City Manager reside in the City in order to comply with State law. Consolidation of Financial Offices. Currently the Charter establishes several financial offices, including Director of Finance, City Auditor, City Assessor, and City Collector. In order to streamline government, the measure would consolidate the roles of Director of Finance and City Treasurer and remove the outdated positions of Assessor and Collector. The position of City Auditor would remain. The Measure updates several other provisions including updating City library payment procedures, replacing gendered language with neutral language, and standardizing language.	”
—Redwood City City Attorney

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Redwood City, California.

See also

Local measures

• Local measures in 2018
• Local charter amendments on the ballot
• Local governance on the ballot
• San Mateo County measures

California

• November 6, 2018 measures in California
• Local ballot measures, California
• Redwood City, California

News and analysis

• State and local preemption conflicts
• Measures advancing national agendas

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• San Mateo County Elections Office website