TITLE
Recommendation to request City Clerk and City Attorney to provide the following documents to the City Council related to Charter Reform: 1) a complete copy of the current City Charter; 2) a chronology of revisions and amendments to the Charter; 3) information concerning the California Municipal Home Rule law and requirements for Charter revision; 4) the National Civic League "Guide for Charter Commissions"; 5) the National Civic League "Model City Charter"; 6) an estimate of the costs to conduct a city-wide special election in 2007 related to Charter amendments compared with conducting same in 2008 during Council elections for Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8; and 7) projections of voter turnout in a special versus regular election.
DISCUSSION
The City Council is currently undertaking the review of the City Charter and has been tasked to complete this review within a short, eight-week time frame (much of which is during the holiday season). From this review, the Council is being asked to make recommendations for revision of the Charter and to place such recommendations on a ballot to be voted upon in a special, city-wide election in the Spring of 2007.
The revision of a city charter is a serious matter. Our city charter is a complex, legal document that should not be lightly revised. It is the document that makes Long Beach independent of the state legislature and provides us with direct control over our local affairs and the structure of how we are governed.
In order for the City Council to fully understand the context in which this task is being undertaken, it is important that it receive all the information necessary to make this process successful and the decisions derived from it appropriate.
It would be most helpful if the City Council were given: a copy of the current City Charter so that it might refer to it during workshops and public hearings on proposed revisions; a chronology of the dates and types of prior revisions would provide a historical con...
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