HomeMy WebLinkAbout17 - NB-5 - Vacancy in Elected Mayoral Position - 3/16/20211
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: March 16, 2021 ITEM NUMBER: NB-5
SUBJECT: VACANCY IN ELECTED MAYORAL POSITION
DATE: MARCH 9, 2021
FROM: LORI ANN FARRELL HARRISON, CITY MANAGER
PRESENTATION BY: LORI ANN FARRELL HARRISON, CITY MANAGER
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: BRENDA GREEN, CITY CLERK
(714) 754-5221
RECOMMENDATION:
Pursuant to Government Code Section 34902(a), City Council action is requested to
conduct the process for an appointment to the position of Mayor due to presumed election
of Mayor Foley to the Orange County Board of Supervisors and direct staff accordingly.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS:
On March 9, 2021, a special election was held to fill a vacancy in the Second District seat
of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. While the election results have not yet been
certified, Mayor Foley was elected to fill that seat. Certification of the election results is
not expected until March 18, 2021, with the Board of Supervisors acting on those results
on March 23, 2021.
Upon formal certification and approval of the election results, the City Council has several
options for filling the vacancy that will occur when Mayor Foley is sworn in to the Board
of Supervisors seat.
The rules for filling an elective mayoral vacancy and those for filling a council member
vacancy are similar, but not identical. A vacancy in the elective mayor position is
governed by California Government Code section 34902(a), which provides, in relevant
part, “In the case of a vacancy in the office of the [elected] mayor for any reason, the
council shall fill the vacancy by appointment. If the council fails to fill it within 60 days, it
shall call an election to fill the vacancy to be held on the next established election date to
be held not less than 114 days thereafter. A person appointed or elected to fill a vacancy
shall hold office for the unexpired term of the former incumbent.” (Emphasis added.)
In addition, historically, vacancies on the Costa Mesa City Council have been filled by
appointment consistent with Government Code Government Code section 36512(b),
which states, “If a vacancy occurs in an elective [city council] office provided for in this
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chapter, the council shall, within 60 days from the commencement of the vacancy, either
fill the vacancy by appointment or call a special election to fill the vacancy.” In 2003, Mike
Schaefer was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Mayor Karen Robinson’s resignation.
In 2010, Steve Mensinger was appointed to fill the vacancy resulting from Katrina Foley’s
election to the Newport Mesa Unified School District Board.
Thus, if the City Council fails to fill the seat by appointment within 60 days of it becoming
vacant, a special election would have to be conducted on November 2, 2021 to fill the
final one year of the Mayor’s term. The estimated cost of a special election would be
$433,321 to $503,350 if the Registrar of Voters has no other matters scheduled for
consideration at that time.
The City Council has the following options, which are described in detail below, for filling
the vacancy:
1. Appointment
a. Direct Appointment
b. Application and Appointment
2. Special Election, if there is a failure to appoint within 60 days
Appointment
A Mayoral appointment must meet the following legal requirements:
• Must be a resident of the City of Costa Mesa and a registered voter;
• Must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible;
• The newly appointed Mayor will have to file a Statement of Economic Interest (Form
700).
Direct Appointment - The City Council could appoint a resident by direct appointment
without an application process. Direct appointment considerations could be a past
Councilmember, a current Councilmember, a current committee, commission or board
member, or a November 2020 council candidate, to name a few.
Appointment based on Applications – The City Council could require applications for the
position and then take action to appoint.
If the City Council wishes to proceed with appointment through an application process,
staff would recommend the following approach/procedure:
1. March 16, 2021 Council approves proposed application (Attachment 1).
2. March 17, 2021 Candidate application period opens, and distribute Press Releases.
3. March 19, 2021 Mayoral vacancy notice published in The Daily Pilot, and posted on
the City’s website.
4. March 29, 2021 5:00 p.m., Applications Deadline.
5. April 6, 2021 Mayoral appointment at Regular City Council Meeting
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If the City Council wishes to fill the position by appointment through an application
process, a draft “Application for Appointment to Mayoral Vacancy” has been prepared
and is attached as Attachment 1. If the Council seeks to fill the position by appointment,
but fails to do so within 60 days of the vacancy (e.g., due to a tie vote deadlock), it must
call a special election as outlined below.
Special Election
If an appointment is not made within 60 days of the vacancy in the mayoral position,
thereby triggering a special election as required by the Government Code, the election
would be required to be held on the next regularly established election date, not less than
114 days from the call of the special election. For a traditional election (voting at polling
places and by mail), Election Code section 1000 establishes that date would be
November 2, 2021. This option is not recommended due to the exorbitant cost of holding
a stand-alone special election, the fact that there would be only year remaining on the
term by the time the election is held, and most important, would require there be a
vacancy in the Mayor’s seat for approximately nine months during a local, county, state
and national emergency. Given that we remain in a state of emergency due to the
pandemic, this is not recommended.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED:
The City Council is required by statute to take either of two actions:
Appoint a replacement within 60 days OR if it fails to do so, proceed with a special
election process.
FISCAL REVIEW:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the appointment of a new Mayor. If an appointment
is not made, thereby triggering a special election, the estimated fiscal impact would be
between $433,321 and $503,350.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney’s Office has prepared this report.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that City Council conduct the process for an appointment given the
anticipated vacancy in the Mayoral seat and direct staff accordingly.
___________________________ __________________________
LORI ANN FARRELL HARRISON KIMBERLY HALL BARLOW
City Manager City Attorney
____________________________
CAROL MOLINA
Finance Director
ATTACHMENT: 1. Draft Application to fill Mayoral Vacancy
***To submit form via e-mail, please save application, fill in, and send to cityclerk@costamesaca.gov.
Upon receipt, a confirmation will be sent.
If you DO NOT receive a confirmation, please contact the City Clerk office at (714) 754-5225.
City of Costa Mesa
Application for Mayoral Appointment
All information on this page only, is considered public information and will be released to
the public, including being posted on the City’s website.
Name:
City of Costa Mesa
77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
1. Indicate why you wish to serve as Mayor. Provide any experience or qualifications you may possess that you think
would be beneficial to serving as Mayor. A resume (optional) may be attached. (Note: All information contained on the
resume is public information, will be distributed to the public and posted on the City’s website).
Page 1 of 2
Attachment 1
Note: This contact information will not be posted on the City’s website or distributed to
the public. However, this information is still subject to release pursuant to the
California Public Records Act.
3. Contact Information:
Name:
Street:
City: Zip:
Phone (cell): (home):
E-mail Address:
By checking this box and typing my name below, I am electronically signing my application.
Signature: Date:
Please submit application by mail, fax, email or bring to City Hall (77 Fair Drive) no later than
5 p.m. on Monday, March 29, 2021.
Mailing Address: City Clerk’s Office
City of Costa Mesa
P.O. Box 1200
Costa Mesa, CA 92628-1200
Phone: (714) 754-5225
Fax: (714) 754-4942
cityclerk@costamesaca.gov
Page 2 of 2
From: Russell Baldwin <rabaldwinl2@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 9:15 AM
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: Appoint the new mayor
Special, elections are costly and delay the business of the city.
Cordially,
Russell Baldwin
Long time resident
From:
Wendy Leece <Ieecefam@sbcglobal.net>
Sent:
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 12:37 PM
To:
CITY CLERK
Cc:
CITY COUNCIL
Subject:
NB 5 Mayor
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council,
As a member of FIPAC I am keenly aware of the City's financial challenges
and the expense of a special election in 2021.
After much thought my recommendation is for Mayor Pro Tern Marr to
become Mayor and for the city council to receive applications for a new
city council member.
Please consider what the City of Irvine did when Mayor of Irvine Don
Wagner was voted to the Board of Supervisors. Christina Shea, as mayor
pro tem, became mayor and (I believe) applications were received and
Mike Carroll was selected to be on the City Council.
This plan would be in the best interest of the City because the MPT has a
real time knowledge of current city affairs and it will be a smoother
transition to become mayor and better for the city. And after reviewing
applications, the Council can decide on the best qualified for a new
council member. I don't think it matters if the council member is at -large
or from the current Mayor Pro Tem's council district.
Sincerely,
Wendy Leece
wevO U Reece
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From: Craig Preston <craigp4444@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 12:49 PM
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: New Business item #5: Vacancy in elected Mayoral Position.
RE: New Business item #5: Vacancy in elected Mayoral Position.
Dear City Council,
I support appointing our new mayor instead of a costly special election. The cost is estimated to be $400,000
to $500,000.
Our city has many important business tasks needing attention now, so please don't delay.
Craig Preston
Costa Mesa CA 92626
(714] 473-2798 CraigP4444@gmail.com
From: Randy Stuck <randy.stuck@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2021 11:52 AM
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: New Mayor
Good Morning,
I'd like to formally let my opinion be known that we must hold a special election in order to decide upon the
next mayor.
Now that the mayor is directly elected and at large, having the city council members decide upon a replacement
is incredibly disingenuous and not in the spirit in which the redistricting rules were created. It seems as though
it would have been a holdover from the previous rules, in which the council did indeed select the mayor.
I am unable to be present at the Tuesday meeting, but would like to ensure that my opinion is known.
Thank you,
- Randy Stuck
10.5 year resident
From: Ally Young <ally@ramserdevco.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2021 12:52 PM
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: New CM Mayor
Hello
As a resident, homeowner and small business owner in Costa Mesa I believe the candidate with the second highest vote
getter from the fall should be elected, Sandy Genis. Thank you for your time!
Ally Young
287 23rd street
9493380757
Sent from my iPhone
From:
philip chipman <philipchipman@att.net>
Sent:
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 9:58 AM
To:
CITY CLERK
Subject:
Save money, appoint a new mayor
I'm a Costa Mesa resident and would like to see a new mayor appointed. I favor Andrea Marr, but would be happy with
anyone from the city council and saving our city the half million dollars to have an election, especially when the next
election is only a year away.
Philip Chipman
2612 Westminster PI
Costa Mesa
949-650-5988
Sent from my iPad
From: Linda K <Ikteamtalk@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 12:48 PM
To: CITY CLERK
Subject: Vacancy in elected Mayoral Position
Dear Mayor and City Council,
Please appoint a new Costa Mesa Mayor as soon as possible. Please don't delay. We need someone acting in
that position immediately.
Please don't waste valuable time or money on running a special election.
Thank You,
Linda Kraemer
Resident
Costa Mesa
LKTeamTalk@gmail.com