| JOHN ANDERSON ADVOCATE for the people mayor - City of Yorba Linda |
| IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS BY CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF YORBA LINDA MEASURE Y This proposed initiative ordinance, to be known as the Ethics Ordinance of the City of Yorba Linda, would affirm the City Council’s adoption of Ordinance No. 2010-940 on January 19, 2010. The Ordinance proposed by this measure is identical to Ordinance No. 2010- 940 adopted by the City Council, which is set forth as Chapter 2.44 of Title 2 of the Yorba Linda Municipal Code. Currently the Ordinance can be amended or repealed by the City Council. However, if the voters of the City approve the Ordinance by majority vote, a subsequent amendment or the repeal of the Ordinance would require voter approval in the form of a new measure. A summary of the ordinance follows: -prohibits City officials from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from City contractors; -prohibits Council Member or Council Member controlled committee from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions or loans of $250 or more within 12 months after decision involving the campaign contributor; -disqualifies Council Member from participating in decisions that directly benefit campaign contributors who donated $250 or more to Council Member or Council Member controlled committee within past 12 months; -prohibits candidates from soliciting endorsements from City employees, commissioners, contractors or labor association; -requires adoption of a code of conduct for elected and appointed officials; -requires adoption of “whistleblower” procedures; -requires AB1234 training for all City staff and elected and appointed officials; -prohibits closed door ad hoc committee meetings; -requires tape recording of all City Council closed session meetings; -prohibits City officials and staff from engaging in campaign-related activities using City resources; and -contains enforcement provisions. The proposed Ordinance is already in effect in the Municipal Code. Thus, a No vote on the measure will not have an impact on the existing Ordinance. A YES vote on the measure will ensure that the Ordinance remains codified in the Municipal Code and it cannot be amended or repealed without voter approval. THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS OF MEASURE Y IF YOU DESIRE A COPY OF THE MEASURE, PLEASE CALL THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE AT (714) 961-7150 AND A COPY WILL BE MAILED AT NO COST TO YOU. s/ Jamie Raymond Interim City Attorney ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE Y City council members and city public officials should serve the public’s interest - not their own self-interests - in an open and transparent manner. The Ethics Ordinance includes a series of rules designed to ensure that the highest level of ethics are practiced by all elected and appointed officials and staff that serve the City of Yorba Linda. Government ethics rules don’t make people ethical, but rather require them to do or not to do certain things, so that they act in the public’s interest rather than in their own personal interest. Passing the Ethics Ordinance was a three year struggle with significant opposition by some Council members. Eventually the ordinance passed but can be overturned by a bare majority vote, unless the voters tell the politicians enough is enough by adopting Measure Y. A YES vote binds all city officials and staff by reasonable, yet tough, ethical requirements under penalty of misdemeanor sanctions. A YES vote: - Restricts council members from voting to favor their major contributors; - Prohibits council members from soliciting endorsements and campaign assistance from their appointed commissioners or city staff members or from coercing or accepting campaign contributions from city labor associations or city contractors. This so-called “pay to play” aspect of government has no place in Yorba Linda; - Requires the council adopt a whistleblower statute and a city officials’ code of conduct; - Mandates biannual ethics training for all city officials; - Outlaws closed-door, backroom, ad hoc committee meetings with secret deliberations and decisions and requires tape recordings of all official closed session council meetings. Recordings protect against improper deliberations and secret decision making; and, - Makes Yorba Linda a more ethical place to live and work. Please join us in supporting Measure Y. Keep public service in the public’s interest. s/ John Anderson Mayor, City of Yorba Linda s/ Emil Mark Schwing Councilman, City of Yorba Linda s/ Nancy J. Rikel Mayor Pro Tem, City of Yorba Linda s/ Thomas H. Lindsey Resident, Business Owner s/ Kennith L. Peterson Resident No argument against this measure was submitted. Despite opposing the ethics ordinance at nearly every step of the process neither of the two council members who were opposed to the ethics ordinance wrote an argument in opposition. In fact neither of them even voted to allow the voters to have the final say on the matter. I believe the voters in Yorba Linda are educated and capable of determining for themselves whether Measure Y makes sense. I was proud to fight for the ordinance, to vote to allow the voters to decide its merits, and to write the ballot argument in favor of it. Please join me in voting YES for Measure Y. FULL TEXT OF MEASURE Y CITY OF YORBA LINDA ORDINANCE NO. 2010- 940 AN ORDINANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF YORBA LINDA ADDING CHAPTER 2.44 OF TITLE 2 OF THE YORBA LINDA MUNICIPAL CODE ESTABLISHING ETHICS REGULATIONS THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF YORBA LINDA DO HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. New Chapter. Chapter 2.44 of the Yorba Linda Municipal Code is hereby added to read as follows: CHAPTER 2.44 ETHICS REGULATIONS Sections: Sec. 2.44.010 No solicitation of campaign contributions from city contractors. Sec. 2.44.020 Prohibition against accepting campaign contributions for twelve months after approving a permit or decision. Sec. 2.44.030 Disqualification from acting upon a permit or decision if a campaign contribution was accepted within a previous twelve month period. Sec. 2.44.040 Prohibition against seeking endorsements from city employees, commissioners, city contractors or labor associations affiliated with city contractors. Sec. 2.44.050 Adoption of a code of conduct for elected and appointed officials. Sec. 2.44.060 Adoption of a "whistleblower" procedure. Sec. 2.44.070 Mandatory AB1234 training for all city staff, executives and appointed and elected officials. Sec. 2.44.080 Prohibition against closed door ad hoc committee meetings of the City Council and Commissions. Sec. 2.44.090 Tape recording of all closed session meetings of the City Council. Sec. 2.44.100 Prohibitions against the misuse of City resources or staff involvement in elections. Sec. 2.44.110 Enforcement Sec. 2.44.010. No solicitation of campaign contributions from city Contractors It is unlawful for any City Official to use his or her position or prospective position, or the power or authority of his or her office or position, in any manner intended to induce or coerce any person, firm, entity or any labor association affiliated with any of the foregoing, that is under current contract to do business with the city or desires to contract to do business with the city, to make a campaign contribution to an individual, political action committee or association of citizens in connection with promoting or opposing any candidate for city council or any municipal initiative or referendum on the ballot for a City election, or to accept a campaign contribution from an existing city contractor or labor association of a city contractor. For purposes of this section, City Official shall mean a Council Member, a Commissioner or any other person required by the City's Conflict of Interest Code to file a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest. Furthermore, this section shall not prohibit a City Official from seeking a campaign contribution from an employee of a city contractor in the case where the employee resides within the City. Sec. 2.44.020. Prohibition against accepting campaign contributions for twelve months after approving a permit or decision. No Council Member or any campaign committee controlled by a Council Member shall solicit or accept any campaign contribution or loan of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more from any person for a period of twelve months following the date a final decision is rendered in any proceeding before the Council involving a license, permit, contract or other land use entitlement, if the Council Member knows or has reason to know that the person was the applicant, the contractor or the direct recipient of the approval. For purposes of this section, members of the public, other than the applicant, the contractor or direct recipient of an approval, who expresses an opinion to the City Council through direct public comment, testimony at a public hearing or in writing shall not be affected by this section. Sec. 2.44.030 Disqualification from acting upon a permit or decision if a campaign contribution was accepted within a previous twelve month period. A Council Member shall not participate in, nor use his or her official position to influence, a decision of the city council if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision directly benefits a recent campaign contributor by granting the contributor a license, permit, contract, land use entitlement or other benefit sought by the contributor from the City. A recent campaign contributor means any person, firm or entity who has made campaign contributions totaling two hundred fifty ($250) or more to the Council Member or to any campaign committee controlled by the Council Member in the twelve-month period immediately preceding the date of the decision. Sec. 2.44.040. Prohibition against seeking endorsements from city employees, commissioners, city contractors or labor associations affiliated with city contractors. It is unlawful for any City Official, candidate for public office or person promoting or opposing a municipal initiative or referendum to solicit, directly or indirectly, a political endorsement from any City employee, City Commissioner, city contractor or labor association affiliated with city contractors. Notwithstanding the prohibition stated above this section shall not prohibit a City Official, a candidate for elective office or a person promoting or opposing a municipal initiative from soliciting an endorsement from City employees if the solicitation is part of a solicitation made to a significant segment of the public which may include City employees. City Official shall include any Council Member, Commissioner, the City Manager, the City Attorney or Department Head. Sec. 2.44.050. Adoption of a code of conduct for elected and appointed officials. The City Council shall adopt by resolution a "Code of Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials" to describe the manner in which Council members and Commissioners should treat one another, city staff, constituents, and others they come into contact with in representing the City of Yorba Linda. Sec. 2.44.060. Adoption of a "whistleblower" procedure. The City Council shall adopt by separate ordinance a "whistleblower" procedure to protect City of Yorba Linda employees who have reported improper governmental actions in accordance with the City of Yorba Linda's policies and procedures. Sec. 2.44.070. Mandatory AB1234 training for all city staff, executives and appointed and elected officials. All department heads, managers, City Council Members, City Commissioners and the City Manager shall complete AB1234 training and shall keep on file with the City Clerk evidence of completion of such training. The City Clerk shall coordinate training sessions with the City Attorney and the training shall be provided no less frequently than every other year. There may be valid reasons for a person to accomplish training outside of the City's official training sessions. City Council Members and Commissioners must inform the Mayor in writing as to the reason why the person cannot attend the City provided training. Managers and Department Heads may only be excused by the City Manager. Sec. 2.44.080. Prohibition against closed door ad hoc committee meetings of the City Council and Commissions The Mayor and Commissioner Chairs shall not appoint ad hoc committees for the purpose of permitting less than a quorum of the Council or Commission to meet behind closed doors, or otherwise in private, with members of the public, other officials or applicants to discuss official city business related to matters pending before the Council or Commissioner or matters which are to be brought forward to the Council or Commission. If the Mayor or a Commission Chair desires a committee to work on a particular matter the Mayor or Chair may appoint a committee and instruct the committee to comply with the noticing and meeting requirements of the Brown Act. Sec. 2.44.090. Tape recording of all closed session meetings of the City Council. The Brown Act authorizes the City Council to direct that closed session discussions of the City Council be recorded and maintained by a designated person. The City Manager is hereby directed to provide for the audio taping of all closed session meetings of the City Council and the Mayor shall cause such audio tapes to be delivered to the City Clerk. The audio tapes shall be maintained by the City Clerk in sealed envelopes and shall remain at all times in a secure location accessible only to the City Clerk. The closed session audio tapes shall not be deemed a public record and shall only be accessed in accordance with the provisions of the Brown Act in connection with an official investigation or review as provided for in the Brown Act or by a vote of at least three members of the City Council only when such release is permitted by law. Sec. 2.44.100 Prohibitions against the misuse of City resources or staff involvement in elections. (a) It is unlawful for any City Official or staff person to engage in campaign- related activities, such as fund-raising, the development of electronic or written materials, or research, for a campaign for any elective office using City facilities, equipment, supplies, or other City resources. It is unlawful for any person to induce or coerce, or attempt to induce or coerce any other person to engage in any activity prohibited by this section. (b) It is unlawful for any current or former City Official to use or disclose to any person any confidential information he or she acquired in the course of his or her official duties, except when such disclosure is a necessary function of his or her official duties. (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of City resources to provide information to the public about the possible effects of any bond issue or other ballot measure relating to City activities, operations, or policies, provided that: (1) The use of public resources is otherwise legally authorized; and (2) The information provided constitutes a fair and impartial presentation of relevant facts to aid the electorate in reaching an informed judgment regarding the bond issue or ballot measure. Sec. 2.44.110. Enforcement. Alleged violations of this Chapter 2.44 by any person other than the City Manager or the City Attorney shall be reported in writing to the City Attorney. The City Attorney shall notify the City Council of the allegation and refer the matter for investigation and potential enforcement to the District Attorney and special legal counsel selected by the City Council. Each year when the City Council reaffirms the City's Conflict of Interest Code as required by the Political Reform Act, the City Council shall also select special legal counsel to be used for the enforcement of this Chapter. Alleged violations of this Chapter by the City Manager or the City Attorney shall be made in writing to the Mayor who shall refer the matter directly to the special legal counsel. Section 2. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions might subsequently be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Section 3. CEQA. The City Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that it will have a significant effect on the environment. Section 4. Effective Date. The provisions of this chapter shall become effective at twelve o’clock noon the day after it is approved at an election of the voters of the City of Yorba Linda. Section 5. Priority. Once this chapter becomes effective, its provision shall prevail over and supersede all provisions of the municipal code, ordinances, resolutions, and administrative policies of the City of Yorba Linda which are in conflict with any provisions of this chapter. Section 6. Amendment or Repeal. Once this chapter becomes effective no provision of this chapter may be amended or repealed except by a majority of the voters of the City of Yorba Linda voting on a ballot measure for that purpose. Copyright © 2010 Friends of John Anderson for City Council 2010 All Rights Reserved Paid for by Friends of John Anderson for City Council 2010 - FPPC ID 1290130 |
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