13 Staff Report - Term Limits
PREPARED BY: Robert Schultz
Town Attorney
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 10/01/2019 ITEM NO: 13
DATE: September 25, 2019
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Robert Schultz, Town Attorney
SUBJECT: Review of Citizen Ballot Initiative Amending the Los Gatos Town Code
Regarding Term Limits for Council Members
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Town Council review this report and provide any direction to staff .
BACKGROUND:
On September 3, 2019, a Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition proposing an amendment to the
Los Gatos Town Code was submitted to the Town Clerk. This ballot measure would amend the
Los Gatos Town Code to add term limitations for members of the Town Council. Presently,
persons serving as Council members serve four-year terms and can serve unlimited terms. This
measure would eliminate the ability to serve unlimited terms and create a limit of two
consecutive terms for Council members. After serving two consecutive terms, a Council
member would not be eligible to serve an additional term until at least four years have elapsed
since that Council member last held office. Under State Law, the ballot measure must operate
prospectively, so that any time served by a person serving in office before certification of the
2020 election, would not count toward the term limit thereafter.
Attachment A is a Copy of the Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition and Attachment B is the
Ballot Title and Summary, as mandated and prepared by the Town Attorney.
DISCUSSION:
Procedural requirements for placing a local initiative on the ballot parallel those for qualifying a
statewide proposition. After drafting an initiative measure, proponents must file a “notice of
PAGE 2 OF 2 SUBJECT: Review of Citizen Ballot Initiative Amending the Los Gatos Town Code Regarding Term Limits for Council Members DATE: September 25, 2019
intention” to circulate a petition for signatures with the Town Clerk, along with the text of the
proposed measure and a request for ballot title and summary. The Town Clerk forwards the
request to the Town Attorney, who has 15 days to return an impartial ballot title and summary.
Proponents must publish the notice of intention, ballot title, and summary in the local
newspaper of general circulation. Next, proponents have 180 days from the receipt of the
ballot title and summary to circulate a petition for the requisite signatures.
Under State law, term limits can only be enacted by the voters at a regularly scheduled
election. The next regularly scheduled election is November 2020. Since a term limits ballot
measure must be held at a regularly scheduled election, the Petition will need a minimum of
10% of the registered voter population which equates to approximately 2,090 registered voters.
Upon receiving an initiative petition, the Town Clerk must verify the number of signatures
obtained and their eligibility within 30 days. In the interim, the Town Council may refer the
proposed measure for a report on its fiscal impact, consistency with the General Plan, and
other effects. Reports must be received within 30 days after the Town Clerk has certified the
sufficiency of the petition. If the Town Clerk determines that the requisite number of valid
signatures has been gathered, he or she submits the initiative to the Town Council. A local
government cannot refuse to place a duly certified initiative on the ballot.
Instead of waiting to see if the petitions qualify for the ballot, the Town Council could on its
own direct staff to prepare resolutions to place all, part, or none of the term limit ballot
measures on the November 2020 general election.
CONCLUSION:
This is primarily an informational report for Council consideration and to direct staff
accordingly.
August 9, 2019
Ms. Shelley Neis
Los Gatos Town Clerk
110 East Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
RE: Request for Title and Summary
Dear Ms. Neis:
RECEIV&D TOWN OF LOS GATOS
SEP 03 2019
CLERK DEPAll'IMEN'f
As the proponents of the "Los Gatos Town Council Term Limits Initiative" (the
"measure"), we hereby give notice of our intention to circulate a petition within the Town
of Los Gatos for the purpose of amending the Los Gatos Municipal Code to implement
new term limits for Los Gatos Town Council Members.
Attached are the Notice of Intent, the full text of the measure, the statements
required by California Elections Code section 9608, and a check for the amount of
$200. Pursuant to California Elections Code sections 9202 and 9203, we request that the
Los Gatos Town Attorney timely prepare a Title & Summary of the measure so that we
may comply with the publication requirements and begin circulating the petition.
Please send all correspondence related to the measure to our attorney at the
following office address and email address:
Samuel J. Harvey
The Sutton Law Firm
150 Post Street, Suite 405
San Francisco, CA 94108
(sharvey@campaignlawyers.com)
Thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Sincerely,
�4.(-/f.;.-��Hoesen
156 Villa Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Enclosures
a VanNada
1 Euclid Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Mon,19Aug 2019 3:14 PM
ATTACHMENT A
ATTACHMENT B