Ordinance - 2310ORDINANCE NO. 2310
AN ORDINANCE OF TI-IE CITY Or WEST COVINA,
CALIFORNIA, TO ESTABLISH BY -DISTRICT ELECTION OF
COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND REPEALING AND REPLACING
SECTIONS 2-20 AND 2-21 OF ARTICLE II, DIVISION 1, OF
THE MUNICIPAL CODE
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Findings.
A. The City of West Covina ("City") is a general law city, which is currently governed
by a five (5) council members, who are all elected by all voters in the City in an at -large voting
system; and
B. Pursuant to Government Code section 34886, as amended effective January 1,
2017, the City Council may adopt an ordinance that requires the members of the city council to be
elected by district, without being required to submit the ordinance to the voters for approval; and
C. Under the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, district -based elections are
required if it can be shown that an at -large election system prevents minority voters from electing
their chosen candidate or influencing elections; and
D. The City of West Covina has been presented with no evidence of racially polarized
voting, but desires to ensure the voting rights and fair representation of all of its citizens; and
E. Pursuant to California Government Code section 34886, it is declared the change
in the method of electing members of the City Council made by this ordinance is to implement the
guarantees of Section 7 of Article I and of Section 2 of Article II of the California Constitution, as
set forth in Section 14031 of the California Voting Rights Act.
Section 2. The City Council finds and declares that the above Findings are true and correct.
Section 3. Article II (City Council), Division 1 (Generally), current Section 2-20 (Mayor;
duties) of the West Covina Municipal Code is hereby repealed and replaced as follows:
2-20 By -District Elections,
A. City Council. The elective officers of the City shall constitute a city council consisting of
five (5) members elected by district at the times and in the manner provided in this Chapter,
in a sequence to be determined by ordinance or resolution, each of whom shall serve a term
of four (4) years and until their respective successors qualify.
B. Residency in Districts. Each member of the city council must be a resident of the council
district from which the member is nominated at the time the member is nominated, elected,
and throughout that member's term of office. In the event any member of the city council
ceases to be a resident of the district from which the member (or, in the case of an
appointee, a predecessor) was nominated, the office shall immediately become vacant and
shall be filled in the same manner as herein provided for other vacancies. If a member of
the city council ceases to be a resident of the district from which the member (or, in the
case of an appointee, a predecessor) was nominated solely because of a change in the
boundaries as provided herein, the member shall not lose office during that term by reason
of such change.
C. Council Districts. The City is hereby divided into five (5) districts, as set forth herein.
Candidates for council seats in each district shall be nominated and elected only by the
voters of that district and shall reside in that district.
D. District Boundaries. The boundaries of the council member districts of the City shall be
established in the manner required by Government Code section 34877.5 (effective January
1, 2017) and California Elections Code section 10010 (as amended effective January 1,
2017),
E. Changes in Boundaries. The boundaries of said city council districts, but not the number
thereof, may be changed by ordinance adopted by the city council by three -fifths (3/5) vote
of all its members; provided that districts established by the city council shall be as nearly
equal in population and as geographically compact as possible. Boundaries shall be
adjusted by the city council before the first day of November of the year following the year
in which each decennial federal census is taken by three -fifths (3/5) vote of the total
membership of the city council, and as provided in Elections Code sections 21601, 21602
and 21607. However, the city council shall not change the boundaries of districts more than
once in any two (2) year period and no such change shall be made within the period of one
hundred eighty (180) days preceding a general municipal election. The preceding
limitations shall not apply to changes made necessary by changes to City boundaries, as
provided in Elections Code section 21603. After city council has exercised its power to
change the boundaries of districts, these changes shall immediately be reflected in the
district boundaries specified by ordinance adopted by city council.
r. Current Officeholders. The five (5) members of the city council in office at the time this
section takes effect shall continue in office until their terms expire.
Section
4. Article II
(City Council),
Division 1 (Generally), Section
2-21 (Mayor;
selection) of the
West Covina
Municipal Code
is hereby repealed and replaced as
follows:
Sec. 2-21. -Mayor; duties and selection.
(a)
The mayor,
sometimes herein referred to as
the "presiding officer," shall
preserve
strict order and
decorum at
all meetings of the city council.
The mayor shall state every
question
coming before the council, announce the decision of the council on all subjects and decide all
questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the council, in which event a majority vote of
the council members present shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order.
Voting on all ordinances shall be by roll call vote called by the city clerk; and the mayor shall be
entitled to vote last on all questions.
(b) The mayor shall be the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes, and
shall perform all duties imposed upon the mayor by the laws of the state or by ordinance of the
city. The mayor shall serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the city council.
(c) The city council shall conduct its annual reorganization during its second regularly
scheduled meeting of November, except in even -numbered years when the reorganization will
occur at the time the city council confirms the official canvass of the municipal election results as
required by California Government Code Section 36801.
(d) The initial order of mayoral succession shall be determined by the length of the
current term of incumbency, as defined by the date of election. When two (2) or more council
members have equal terms of incumbency, the order shall be determined by the highest number of
votes received at their election to the city council. The first order of rotation is as follows:
(1) Corey Warshaw
(2) Mike Spence
(3) Lloyd Johnson
(4) Tony Wu
(5) James Toma
Thereafter, the outgoing mayor's name will rotate to the bottom of the previous year's
mayoral succession list, with all other names moving up one position, in order that the outgoing
mayor pro tern shall become the new mayor, and the next council member on the list shall become
the new mayor pro tem.
(e) Newly elected council members shall be added to the bottom of the mayoral
succession list, following the outgoing mayor in that election year's council reorganization. When
there are two (2) or more newly elected council members, the order will be determined by the
person who received the highest number of votes at the election.
(f) Any council member appointed to fill a vacancy shall be added immediately to
the bottom of the mayoral succession list. In the event the appointment is to fill a vacancy at the
mayor or mayor pro tem's position, all other names on the succession list shall move up one
position.
(g) The city council by a minimum of four (4) votes may modify the mayoral
succession list, or remove and replace the mayor or mayor pro tem at any time.
Section 5. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act. The City Council
finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA")
pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct of reasonably foreseeable
indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as
defined in Section 15378) of the State CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title
14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment,
directly or indirectly. Further, if the activity is deemed a project this City Council finds that this
Ordinance is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b) (3) of the State CEQA Guidelines in that the
Ordinance is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the
potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. It can be seen with certainty that there
is no possibility that this Ordinance will have a significant effect on the environment and therefore
the activity is not subject to CEQA.
Section 6. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or
applications of this Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to this end the provisions of this Ordinance are severable. The City Council
hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any
particular portion thereof.
Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days from
its adoption. The district boundaries shall be selected and in place at least 90 days prior to the next
municipal election and the first by -district elections as provided for herein shall commence at the
next election of Council Members for the City of West Covina after the effective date of this
ordinance.
Section 8. Publication. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance
and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published in a newspaper of general circulation printed and
published within the City of West Covina, pursuant to all legal requirements.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this 17t" day of January, 2017.
Corey arshaw
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: ATTEST:
lav
Kirnberly HA Barlow Nickolas S. Lewis
City Attorney City Clerk
I, NICKOLAS S. LEWIS, CITY CLERK of the City of West Covina, California, do hereby certify
that the foregoing Ordinance was regularly introduced and placed upon its first reading at a regular
meeting of the City Council on the 20th day of December, 2016. That thereafter said Ordinance
was duly adopted and passed at a regular meeting of the City Council on the 17th day of January,
2017, by the following vote:
AYES: Johnson, oma, Warshaw
NOES: Spence, Wu
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Ikolas S. Lewis
City Clerk