LWV League of Women Voters of California
Smart Voter
Orange County, CA November 5, 2002 Election
Measure W
Stagger Terms of Office
City of Placentia
Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required

6,468 / 71.7% Yes votes ...... 2,559 / 28.3% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures
Results as of Nov 12 4:00pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (36/36)
Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments |

Shall Section 902 of the Charter of the City of Placentia be amended to provide for staggered terms of office for members of City Boards and Commissions?

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney
The current provisions of the City Charter provide that terms of office of members of the City's boards and commissions are four years unless a lesser term is specified by the Council by resolution and until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. The Charter also provides that the terms of office shall be staggered; that is, each year at least one but not more than two terms of office of members of any board or commission shall expire in any one year. The Council has formed and desires to maintain boards and commissions that have as many as nine (9) members; thus, maintenance of the four year term of office restriction requires that as many as three terms of office for any board or commission expire in any one year. This measure is essentially a housekeeping, non-substantive revision that provides for staggered terms of office and ensures that at least one and no more than two terms of office expire each year for each board or commission with 8 or fewer members and that at least two and no more than three terms of office expire each year for any board or commission with more than 8 members.

The current provisions of the Charter do not include any express requirement that members of the City's boards and commissions be residents of the City. This amendment to the Charter requires that members of the City's boards and commissions shall be residents of the City.

  
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Arguments For Measure W Arguments Against Measure W
This Measure does two things. First, it ensures that terms of office of the City's boards and commissions are staggered. Second, it requires that all members of our boards and commissions must be residents of the City.

This measure will make sure that the members of all of our boards and commissions will serve staggered terms and that there will not be a large change in the membership of any board or commission at any one time. This will provide continuity to each board and commission, ensuring that experienced members will remain while new members are provided the opportunity to serve our community.

It is this concept of service to community that also forms the reason for the other component of this Measure: All members of our boards and commissions should be residents of the City. It is our residents who foot the bill for our government; thus, only residents should participate in the various processes that determine how our City's dollars will be spent. City Hall is your government; it serves you and makes the decisions as to what services the City should provide. Only those who receive our services and those who pay for the services should participate in our City's decision making processes.

We urge you to vote YES on Measure W and ensure open and fair representation on our boards and commission by Placentia residents.

Traditionally, the City Treasurer and Clerk were elected to insure adequate and independent public oversight and checks on the professional staff/bureaucrats. The art of public administration is integrally connected with public trust, confidence, and satisfaction. The tendency is; the more power that is centralized in a single person, the less checks and balances there are. The current electoral process insures and maintains an appropriate level of accountability/checks and balances with our public servants. Therefore, it is our opinion that the City Treasurer and Clerk should be elected/accountable to the people. We urge your No vote on this proposition.

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Created: December 6, 2002 03:14 PST
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