Title:
Title
Certification of Initiative Petition as Sufficient and Discussion of Ballot Placement for the Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020
End
FileID
File ID: 2019-01665
Location
Location: Citywide
Recommendation:
Recommendation
1) Pass a Motion accepting the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters’ “Certificate of Petition” that declares the Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020 petition as sufficient pursuant to law; and 2) provide direction to the City Clerk on ballot placement of the initiative.
Contact: Mindy Cuppy, MMC, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, Office of the City Clerk
Body
Presenter: Mindy Cuppy, MMC, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, Office of the City Clerk
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Exhibit A - Certificate of Initiative Petition “Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020”
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: As provided in California Elections Code section 9114, the City Clerk shall submit a “Certificate of Petition” to the City Council after receipt of the certification if the petition has sufficient signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
On October 1, 2018, a Notice of Intent to circulate initiative petitions was filed with the Office of the City Clerk by proponents Dee Khang, Derell Roberts, and Touke Thao. The initiative charter amendment described as the “Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020” proposed to add Article 110.5 to the Sacramento City Charter with the purpose of establishing the Sacramento Children’s Fund, Sacramento Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Commission, and maintenance of effort.
The signed petitions were due in the Office of the City Clerk no later than April 23, 2019. On April 18, 2019, the proponents submitted the petitions to the City Clerk. Upon review by the City Clerk, the number of signatures affixed to the face of the petitions appeared sufficient to accept the petitions for filing in accordance with California Elections Code section 9210, subd. (b). The petitions were submitted to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voter’s Office on April 19, 2019, to determine the actual number of valid signatures affixed.
In accordance with the provisions of the California Elections Code applicable to an amendment of a city charter proposed by petition, the petition needed at least fifteen percent (15%) valid signatures of the number of registered voters of the city at the time the notice of intent was published with the Office of the City Clerk. The number of registered voters at the time the notice of intent was published (according to the Secretary of State’s official report dated September 7, 2018) was 238,394; therefore, the valid signatures needed to qualify for placement on the ballot was 35,760. The County Registrar of Voters has verified the petition did contain sufficient signatures to meet this threshold. The attached certificate (Exhibit A) confirms the sufficiency of the petition.
On November 5, 2019, the City Clerk was directed to place an item on the agenda to discuss placement of the initiative at on an upcoming Municipal Election in 2020.
Policy Considerations: None
Economic Impacts: None
Environmental Considerations: None
Sustainability: None
Commission/Committee Action: None
Rationale for Recommendation: The California Elections Code obligates the City Clerk to present the Certificate of Petition to the City Council after receipt of the certificate. City Council provides direction for placement of measures on the ballot.
Financial Considerations: Exact election costs have not yet been determined by the Sacramento County Registrar. Based on prior election costs, the placement of the first ballot initiative is estimated at $176,000. There are sufficient funds in the elections budget to cover this cost. If the Sacramento Children’s Fund Act of 2020 is approved, there could be a financial impact on the General/Measure U Funds of approximately $10.1 million to $12.6 million per year, based on the FY2019/20 budget.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.