Rules Committee Meeting of September 18, 2019: Ballot Measures and Election Code Updates
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Rules Committee Meeting of September 18, 2019: Ballot Measures and Election Code Updates
The San Diego City Council Rules Committee met on September 18, 2019, to consider three agenda items: a ballot measure to amend the process for selecting the city auditor, a ballot measure to align the removal process for San Diego Unified School District board members with that of city elected officials, and updates to the municipal election code regarding candidate nominating procedures. The meeting also included approval of previous minutes and one non-agenda public comment.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the committee record of action from July 31, 2019, by unanimous voice vote (motion by Councilmember, second by Council President Pro Tempore).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Catherine Lippitt expressed opposition to the clustering of vape shops and alcohol outlets in neighborhoods, citing health concerns and state advertising restrictions. She urged the committee to amend the ordinance to fill loopholes and implement pending amendments.
- Lily, a candidate for City Council District One, requested collaboration on implementing a homeless solution initiative.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Ballot Measure to Amend Charter Section 39.2 – City Auditor Selection Process
- Councilmember Scott Sherman presented the proposal to remove mayoral involvement in appointing the city auditor, citing conflicts of interest. The Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) presented a comparative analysis of auditor selection processes in 17 cities, noting that most exclude mayoral appointment and that the current 10-year single term is longer than typical. The IBA supported the measure as strengthening independence.
- The mayor's staff (Alma's notice) suggested a broader review of Charter Sections 39.2 and 39.3, including term length, qualifications, interim auditor processes, and audit committee member requirements, to justify the cost of a ballot measure.
- Committee discussion focused on term length: Councilmember Sherman supported a 10-year term with possible renewal; Councilmember Ward proposed one 10-year term with a potential five-year extension; Councilmember Kate favored further discussion at the Audit Committee. Council President Tempore Gomez expressed concern over timing for the March 2020 ballot.
- Motion by Councilmember Sherman to forward the proposal as drafted to full council, with the understanding that the Audit Committee would hold an informational discussion on October 2, 2019. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
Item 2: Ballot Measure to Align School Board Member Removal Process
- Councilmember Chris Kate and Councilmember Vivian Moreno proposed amending Article 15 of the city charter to make the removal process for San Diego Unified School District board members consistent with that for city elected officials. The measure was intended for the November 2020 ballot, not March 2020.
- The committee unanimously approved a motion to direct the city attorney to draft ordinance language for the November 2020 ballot.
Item 3: Municipal Code Update to Election Code – Candidate Nominating Process
- City Clerk Liz Mayland presented recommended updates based on earlier committee feedback: raising the filing fee to $545 for all elective offices (using the cost-of-service study protocol and moving the fee to the user fee schedule), increasing the signature-in-lieu fee to $1 per three signatures, raising qualifying signature requirements to 240 for citywide races and 120 for district races (reflecting a 20% increase in registered voters since 2000), and making no change to the free candidate statement in the voter pamphlet.
- The recommendations were to take effect for the 2022 election cycle.
- Motion by Councilmember Ward to approve the recommendations and direct the city attorney to prepare draft ordinances for full council. Seconded and passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Directed to full council for March 2020 ballot, with the Audit Committee to hold an informational discussion on October 2, 2019, regarding potential term modifications.
- Item 2: City attorney directed to draft ordinance for November 2020 ballot to align school board member removal with city elected official procedures.
- Item 3: Approved election code updates, with city attorney to draft ordinances for council consideration. Changes will apply to the 2022 election cycle.
- Next regular Rules Committee meeting scheduled for October 16, 2019, at 2 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the rules committee of September 18, 2019. This meeting is now in order. Let the record reflect that committee member Bree, Ward, and Kate and Kirsey are present. Also present are Sharon Speedback with the city attorney. Ruth Martin with uh committee consultant. We will start with the approval of the committee record of action from July 31st, 2019. Do we have a motion? So a motion, second, second by council president pro tempere. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed. Moves unanimously. We'll move to non-agenda public comment. The public is limited to two minutes. Yeah. Catherine Lippitt. Good afternoon, Chair Gomez and fellow city council people. Council persons. They're not only effective, um, they actually save taxpayer money and they provide more services to more people. And ignoring public health and we've got Surgeon General's advisories, we've got CDC, we've got the public health department of California, the FDA. I'm not sure what other uh entities you might pay attention to, but there are a lot of agencies sounding the alarms about vape the vaping epidemic and the vaping epidemic, which is fueled by the manufacturers that you are allowing in neighborhoods around the city. And I might add that the clustering in uh in one district was something that was promised would not happen. Healthy children grow up in healthy environments and healthy environments are more conducive to community friendly businesses. And those increase the chances of these young people making sound and safe and healthy choices and becoming academically and professionally and socially accepted successful. That doesn't happen when they've got alcohol uh liquor stores on every corner and being sold uh commercial marijuana and advertising that isn't even allowed by state law. So I hope that they will set that the ordinance will be amended and some of the loopholes will be filled and um the amendments that have been waiting and uh still sitting in limbo might be implemented at some point. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any comments by committee members? We have another non-public item. Um sorry, Lily so hello, city council members, and hopefully next year I will be sitting there. Anyway, I'm running for the city council for uh district one, and I have a solution for the homeless, and then before I while I'm running the campaign, I would love to see if I can work with you to put the uh to implement the homeless solution for the San Diego uh homelessness. So thank you. Thank you. Do we have any comments by committee members? I see none. How about uh city city attorney, IBA, mayor staff? Uh are there any requests to for a continuance? No request. We will now move on to the discussion agenda items. We'll start with item number one, which is the further the consideration of the ballot measures proposal by councilmember Scott Sherman to amend the city charters section 39.2 regarding the selection process for the city auditor for council policy zero zero zero-21 for the March 2020 ballot election. Thank you for your presence and can start whenever we're ready. Thank you all for being here. I'm not going to go through a dialogue presentation. It's on it. How about that? No. No. Just give us a second.
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