League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 8, 2011 Election
	Measure B Council Compensation City of Sunnyvale Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required Pass: 15,084 / 89.79% Yes votes ...... 1,715 / 10.21% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure B

In this challenging economic climate, Sunnyvale's City Council and staff have spent a lot of time examining the budget and looking for ways to reduce costs, including Council members' salaries. Currently, the City Charter requires an automatic 5% annual raise for all councilmembers, and Council cannot vote to override the Charter. This year, Council created a Charter Review Committee with several charges, among them to examine councilmembers' compensation and recommend changes. The Committee found current Council salaries to be reasonable, given the time commitment and responsibilities. However, it recommended changing the Charter to reduce Council raises to a rate based on the Bay Area Consumer Price Index, but never to exceed 5% in any year. Additionally, should the CPI be negative for a year, the salaries would not decrease. Given past performance, this change is expected to more than halve Council raises in future years. The City Council accepted the recommendation of the Charter Review Committee and approved this ballot measure to implement the Committee's recommendation, with no additional changes. Let's be clear. This measure does not increase Council's base salaries or raises, and it will likely dramatically reduce the growth of Council salaries in future years, while still providing councilmembers with fair compensation. This can only save the city money. All that remains is for you the voters to approve it. We ask you to do so. Please vote YES on Measure B. s/ Melinda Hamilton Sunnyvale Mayor s/ James R. Griffith Sunnyvale Vice Mayor s/ Otto Lee Sunnyvale Councilmember s/ Carol Weiss Resident and 2011 Sunnyvale Charter Review Committee Chair s/ Glenn K. Hendricks Resident and 2011 Sunnyvale Charter Review Committee Member (No arguments against Measure B were submitted)

Full Text of Measure B

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY CHARTER OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE The City Council of the City of Sunnyvale, on its own motion, submits to the electors the following amendments to the City Charter of the City of Sunnyvale. The City Council has called a Special Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, for the purpose of voting on the City Charter amendments. The proposed amendments to the City Charter of the City of Sunnyvale follow the statement of the measures. The provisions of the City Charter proposed to be deleted are printed as strike out type, and the new provisions proposed to be added to the City Charter are printed as underlined type. CITY OF SUNNYVALE CHARTER MEASURE B In order to reduce future Council compensation increases, shall Charter Section 603 be amended to delete the current automatic 5% annual increase in Council compensation, to set the 2012 Council compensation at $2,088.64 per month and Mayor compensation at $2,784.86 per month, and to provide for annual cost of living adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index not to exceed 5% or result in a decrease? YES ______ NO ______ If Measure _____ carries, the City Charter of the City of Sunnyvale, shall be amended by amending Section 603, of Article VI (The Council), to read as follows: Section 603. Compensation. In addition to reimbursement for necessary traveling and other expenses actually incurred when on official duty in or out of the City on order of the City Council, commencing January 1, 2012, each member of the City Council shall receive as salary $2,088.64 per month, each month, that sum which has been established by the State Legislature for members of the city councils of general law cities having the population range within which the City of Sunnyvale falls, all as is specified in Government Code Section 36515 as it now exists or may hereafter be amended to read, and the Mayor shall receive as salary $2,784.86 per month. , each month, a sum equal to one hundred thirty-three and one-third percent of that established herein for Councilmembers. In order to provide a cost of living adjustment, commencing on January 1, 2013, and annually on January 1 thereafter, the compensation of the Council and Mayor shall increase by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the preceeding October's 12-month rolling average of the Consumer Price Index-Urban(CPI-U), or successor index, for San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, as determined by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Consumers. In no event shall the CPI-U compensation adjustment exceed 5% per year, or result in a compensation decrease. The CPI-U base index year shall be calendar year 2012. the salaries provided herein shall be increased annually, effective January 1 of each year, by the amount permitted for general law cities by Government Code Section 36516(c), as it now exists or may hereafter be amended. If a member of the City Council does not attend all meetings of the City Council called on order of the City Council and held during the month, his/her salary for such month shall be reduced by the sum equivalent to twenty percent of the month's salary for each meeting not attended unless he/she is absent on official duty with the consent of or on order of the City Council or is granted an excused absence by the City Council, or unless he/she is on personal leave. A member of the City Council shall be permitted four personal leave days per calendar year.