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LWV League of Women Voters of California
Smart Voter
San Diego County, CA November 7, 2000 Election
Proposition F
Change Term Limits
City of Chula Vista

17,784 / 40.65% Yes votes ...... 25,962 / 59.35% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Information shown below: Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall the Charter of the City of Chula Vista be amended to allow the Mayor and Councilmembers to serve a maximum of three consecutive terms and to also expand from one year to three years the period a termed out incumbent must wait to seek reelection?

Official Sources of Information
Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney
This proposition would amend Article III, Section 300. D to permit a Mayor or Councilmember to seek a third term of office. Charter Section
300. D as currently written prohibits a Mayor or Councilmember from seeking a third consecutive full term of office.

This measure also requires that a Mayor or Councilmember who has served three consecutive full terms must wait three years prior to seeking reelection to such office. A Yes vote is a vote to expand the current term limit from two full terms to three full terms. A No vote on both term limit measures is a vote to retain the current consecutive two full term limit. In the event both term limit measures receive a majority vote, the one with the highest affirmative vote will prevail. If neither receives a majority vote, the current two full term limit will remain in effect. There is no fiscal impact associated with this measure.

 
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Arguments For Proposition F Arguments Against Proposition F
Fifteen out of Eighteen Cities in San Diego County and the Board of Supervisors have no term limits. One of the three cities recently enacted a three term policy for their council. Chula Vista's existing term limit regulation has a major flaw. A termed out councilmember can run again, for the same position, less than six months after leaving office.

The current term limit policy weakens Chula Vista's influence at the regional level. Elected representatives from the eighteen other cities and the county make regional decisions that effect Chula Vista and its future. Regional issues, such as the airport at Brown Field, major roadways, mass transit and more, are decided upon by these regional agencies. The city and county representatives with no term limits and the cities with extended term limits have a knowledgeable historic perspective, more experience and have greater opportunity to gain powerful positions within the regional structure.

Term limits were originally set by the voters in 1973. Since that time, Chula Vista has grown to become San Diego County's second largest city. The Mayor and Council are involved in daily discussions which impact the future of our city. The Mayor serves as the city's chief representative. The Mayor and Council are responsible for policy decisions which the City Manager is obligated to implement. The policy activities of the Mayor and Council are crucial to the city to insure that its rights and resources are protected.

A YES vote for Proposition F will eliminate the loophole in the existing law and provide Chula Vista experienced, more effective representation at the regional level.

STEVE MILLER, President, Chula Vista Fire Fighters

JOHN S. MOOT, Deputy Mayor

BUDDY MAGOR, President, Chula Vista Police Officers' Association

IGNACIO VALDOVINOS, Past President, AARP

Rebuttal to Arguments For
Read the fine print

Proposition F pretends to establish term limits when, in fact, it permits politicians to run for an additional 4-year term. It is a blatant attempt to change the City Charter so that a Mayor or a Councilmember can run for a third term. The EXISTING 2-term limit has worked well for Chula Vista for 27 years. The law is NOT flawed it does NOT have a "loophole."

Term-limits have made Chula Vista a model for the region Our term-limits law has discouraged "career politicians" and enabled Chula Vista to be ably served by "citizen leaders." Chula Vista's city government is the best managed, most honestly run local government in the county.

Term-limits do NOT weaken our Regional influence

Chula Vista has been capably represented for years by Councilmembers whose voices were the full equal of any other regional member, as three of the undersigned can attest.

Term-limits prevents government-by-the-insiders-for-the-insiders

Even the most well-meaning elected officials become dangerous when they start to believe that they possess some specialized expertise that makes them more important than the citizens they serve. Term-limits check that power.

Chula Vista's CITY CHARTER is our "Constitution"

Like the Constitution, our City Charter's strength is in its soundness and consistency over time. It should not be changed lightly, or for the personal benefit of a particular officeholder who does not want to leave!

To retain our current 2-term limit, vote NO on Prop. F

FRANK A. SCOTT, Former Mayor and Councilman of Chula Vista

EDMUND "PAT" LA PIERRE, Associate Manager, Golden State Mobilhome Owners League

WILL T. HYDE, Mayor of Chula Vista

GEORGE B. GILLOW, Former City Councilman, City of Chula Vista

ROBERT E. TUGENBERG, Former Planning Commissioner

Proposition F is misleading

Proposition F says one thing but does the opposite. Prop. F claims to impose term limits on the Mayor and Council. Instead, it lets them run for more terms. The Mayor and Council are already subject to a 2 term limit, with an opportunity to run again after a break in service--but not as an incumbent. Since 1970, no incumbent member of the Council has ever lost re-election.

Proposition F repeals Chula Vista's term limit law and increases the maximum term for the Mayor and Council.

Proposition F was written to be misleading. It appears to impose term limits, but it actually lets Councilmembers run for extra terms of office. Read the fine print. Proposition F repeals Chula Vista's term limit law and replaces it with a weaker law. If Prop. F passes, some elected officials could serve on the Council for 24 years.

Proposition F was rushed through by Special Interests and Career Politicians. They hope to mislead the voters into passing Proposition F. It was brought before the City Council at the last minute, with no real chance for public input. The process was as undemocratic as the desired result.

We need to defeat Proposition F in order to:

  • Stop career politicians from staying too long in city government;
  • Stop Special Interests from establishing long-term relationships with elected officials;
  • Keep our city government clean, honest and run by ordinary citizens.

Citizen Politicians have made America great and made Chula Vista a model city. We believe that the 2-term limit provisions now in the Charter tend to level the playing field between incumbents and non-incumbents. It has opened up the election process over the past 30 years and has served the City of Chula Vista well.

Don't be fooled! Save Term Limits. NO on Proposition F!

WILL T. HYDE, Former Mayor of Chula Vista

EDMUND "PAT" LA PIERRE, Associate Manager, Golden State Mobilhome Owners League

GEORGE B. GILLOW, Former City Councilman

NORMA A. CAZARES, President, South Bay Forum, City of Chula Vista

PETER J. WATRY, JR., Southwestern Economics Professor, Emeritus

Rebuttal to Arguments Against
The Facts: Proposition F allows, if re-elected, the Mayor or Councilmembers to serve one additional term -not terms. The maximum amount of time a Mayor could be in office is twelve years.

The Facts: Proposition F closes a loophole, improving the existing law.

The Facts: Proposition F was placed on the ballot after two public meetings of the Charter Review Commission and three Council meetings at which numerous members of the public spoke.

The Facts: Three of the authors of the argument against Proposition F urged the Council not to allow you, the voters, to decide whether to eliminate or improve the term limit rules. Judge for yourself which process and result is more democratic.

I voted to put Proposition F on the ballot and helped author the argument in its favor. Under the existing term limit rule, I could have run for office again. After six years on the Council, I chose to return to my private sector job and spend more time with my three sons. I am not a career politician. No special interest tried to influence my position on Proposition F in any way, shape or form.

I believe in good, clean and effective local government. Proposition F will help Chula Vista better shape and control regional and countywide issues that might adversely affect our quality of life.

This is why we, the people of Chula Vista, and the Chula Vista Firefighters and Police Officers Association support the passage of Proposition F.

Vote "Yes" on Proposition F.

JOHN S. MOOT, Deputy Mayor, City of Chula Vista

STEVE MILLER, President, Chula Vista Fire Fighters

BUDDY MAGOR, President, Chula Vista AARP

IGNACIO VALDOVINOS, Past President, Police Officers' Association

Text for Proposition F
PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT The portions of the charter to be added are underlined and the portions to be deleted are printed in strikeout type.

Sec. 300. Members, Eligibility and Terms.

A. There shall be a City Council of five members, consisting of four Councilmembers and a Mayor, elected from the City at large at the times and in the manner provided in this Charter.

B. No person shall be eligible to hold office as members of the City Council unless they are residents of the City of Chula Vista, and at the time of their election or appointment, qualified electors of the City or of territory annexed thereto.

C. The term of each member of the City Council shall be for a nominal term of four years and shall commence on the first Tuesday of December of the year of the election and shall continue until a successor qualifies. The term for the Mayoral seat and Council seats numbers one (1) and two (2) shall be deemed to commence on every fourth anniversary of the first Tuesday of December of 1990 and the term from Council seats numbers three (3) and four (4) shall be deemed to commence on every fourth anniversary of the first Tuesday of December 1988.

D. No person shall be eligible for nomination and election to the office of City Councilmember or Mayor for more than two (2) three (3) consecutive terms, and no person who has held a Council office for a period of two (2) three (3) consecutive terms or the office of Mayor for two (2) three (3) consecutive terms, may again seek nomination and election to said offices of Council or Mayor respectively until a period of one (I) three (3) years from the termination of the second term for Councilmember or Mayor has elapsed; provided, however, that any person who is appointed by the Council to fill the office of Council or Mayor or elected in a special election for the balance of a regular term of Mayor and/ or Council for a period of two (2) years or less may seek nomination and election for two (2) three (3) full terms thereafter.

E. Each Council seat shall be numbered one (1) through four (4) respectively. Persons seeking election to the City Council shall at the time of filing nomination papers, select one of said seats as the Council position for which they seek election.

F. Persons running for a Council office shall designate one of the two numbered Council seats as memorialized by resolution of the Chula Vista City Council on file in the office of the City Clerk. Should a vacancy occur at any time in a Council seat or seats, if said vacancy is to be filled by a special election as provided in Section 303 of the Charter, candidates for said vacancy shall similarly designate the appropriate numbered seat on their nominating paper.

G. Any person to be elected at a general municipal election for any numbered Council seat 1 through 4 or the office of Mayor for which nomination papers have been filed shall be deemed elected upon receipt of a majority of the votes cast for the particular seat or the Office of Mayor at the election. If no candidate at such general municipal election receives a majority of the votes cast, there shall be a special runoff election, to be held on the same date as the statewide election date in November immediately following the general municipal election (if no statewide election is conducted, then on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November of each even-numbered year), between the two candidates receiving the highest and second highest number of votes in the general municipal election for said seat or the Office of Mayor, in order to determine the winner. By way of clarification, ties among the candidates receiving the two highest number of votes at the general municipal election shall be resolved by a special runoff election.

H. Any person to be elected at a special municipal election called to fill a vacancy pursuant to the provision of Section 303 for any numbered Council seats one through four or the Office of Mayor, for which nomination papers have been filed, shall be deemed elected upon receipt of a majority of the votes cast for the particular seat or the Office of Mayor at the election. If no candidate at such special election receives a majority of the votes cast, there shall be a special run-off election to be held on a date set by Council as soon after such special election as practical between the two candidates receiving the highest and second highest number of votes in such special election for said seat or the office of Mayor in order to determine the winner and shall be seated upon certification of the results of the election. By way of clarification, ties among the candidates receiving the two highest number of votes at such special election shall be resolved by a special run-off election.

I. If one of the two eligible candidates dies on or before the ninetieth day prior to the special run-off election, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot. The candidate receiving the third highest number of votes in the general municipal election for said seat or the Office of Mayor shall be offered by the City Clerk, the opportunity to be placed on the ballot in lieu of the deceased. The City Clerk shall make the offer in writing immediately upon notification of the death. The candidate shall accept or reject in writing to the Clerk within five calendar days of receipt of the City Clerk's offer. If accepted, the special run-off election between the remaining candidate and the candidate receiving the third highest number shall be held. If rejected, there shall be no run-off election, and the remaining candidate shall be deemed elected as of the date of such death.

J. Any person to be elected at a special run-off election required under the provision of this section, shall be deemed elected upon receipt of the highest number of votes for the particular seat or the Office of Mayor and shall be seated upon certification of the results of the election. Ties at such special run-off election shall be resolved by lot.


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Created: January 25, 2001 02:34
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