City of Santa Rosa

City Charter Review Committee

Regular Meeting Minutes - Final

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

5:00 PM

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

Chair Cisco called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m.

15 -

Present

Chair Patti Cisco, Committee Member Adriana Arrizon, Committee

Member Annie Barbour, Committee Member Lisa Badenfort,

Committee Member Christine Byrne, Committee Member Dan

Condron, Committee Member Ana Diaz, Committee Member Jazmin

Gudino, Committee Member Jen Klose , Committee Member Brian

Ling, Committee Member Chris Mazzia, Committee Member Ernesto

Olivares, Committee Member Logan Pitts, Committee Member

Jocelyn Villalobos, and Committee Member Karen Weeks

6 -

Absent

Committee Member Scott Bartley, Committee Member Abigail

Cunningham, Committee Member Danny Martinez, Committee

Member Ron Miller, Committee Member Evette Minor, and Committee

Member Mark Walsh

Committee Member Minor joined the meeting at 5:09 p.m.

Committee Member Martinez joined the meeting at 5:25 p.m.

Committee Member Walsh joined the meeting at 5:53 p.m.

2. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS

No public comments were made.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - NONE.

4. SCHEDULED ITEMS

4.1

EQUITY PRINCIPLES

The principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging remain in the

forefront of the Charter review process. This standing agenda item

provides the Committee with the opportunity, at the outset of each of its

meetings, to refine, reaffirm and recommit to its Statement of Principles.

The Statement of Principles regarding diversity, equity, inclusion and

belonging provides a procedural and substantive lens through which the

Committee undertakes all of its work.

Attachment 1 - Updated Equity Principles

Attachments:

Attachment 2 - Equity Priority Areas with Council Districts

Attachment 3 - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Definitions (City of Santa

Rosa)

This is a standing item on the agenda. No presentation was made at

this meeting.

No public comments were made.

DIRECT ELECT AT-LARGE MAYOR

4.2

The City Council has recommended that, among other topics, the

Committee research and consider preparing a Charter amendment to

establish the position of an elected at-large Mayor, a Mayor elected by

the voters in a City-wide vote.

Currently, the City Council is comprised of seven Council members,

each elected by district. After each Council election, the Council itself

selects one of its members to serve as Mayor for a two year term. The

Mayor serves at the pleasure of the Council and can be removed from

the Mayorship by a vote of the Council.

Under this proposal, the City Charter would be revised to create the

new position of an elected at-large Mayor. The City Council would be

reconfigured to accommodate the new position. Several options for

reconfiguration might be considered, including: (a) restructuring the

Council such that six Council members are elected by district and the

Mayor is elected by a single City-wide vote (under this scenario, the

current seven Council districts would be reduced and realigned into six

districts); or (b) retaining all seven district Council members and adding

the at-large Mayor as an eighth member of the City Council.

This agenda item will outline the steps entailed in moving to a directly

elected at-large Mayor, the pros and cons of having a directly elected

Mayor, the possible roles and responsibilities of a directly elected

Mayor, and the legal limitations on Council reconfiguration.

Attachment 1 - NLC - Cities 101 - At-Large and District Elections

Attachment 2 - Editorial - An at-large San Mateo mayor worth exploring

Attachment 3 - California Voting Rights Act - M.Leoni Presentation

Attachment 4 - Ballotpedia - Laws permitting noncitizens to vote

Presentation

Attachments:

Late Correspondence (Uploaded 2-2-2022)

City Attorney Sue Gallagher provided information clarifying a

mayor's power and position, the Voting Rights Act implications and

the Act's four key elements of At-large election system, presence of

protected classes, racially polarized voting, impairment of voting

influence, and information on voter turn-out by District for the 2020

election. City Attorney Gallagher presented information on possible

implications for an At-Large Mayor, and information for later

consideration by the Committee on the removal of a mayor for

misconduct, voting rights for undocumented individuals, more

frequent charter amendments, and the scope of responsibilities for

a mayor.

Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett and San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin

provided information on their experiences, on the pros and cons of

being an At-large directly elected Mayor, and answered questions

from Committee members.

No public comments were made.

Discussion ensued on if a problem exists that having a directly

elected mayor will solve, if the average resident knows who the

mayor is in the city, a directly elected mayor being a symbol in the

community, an appointed mayor possibly not being viewed by

constituents and colleagues as having the same power authority as

elected officials, providing residents the opportunity to vote for two

council members instead of one, mitigating inequities in the election

process, possible term limits for the Mayor, raising Council member

compensation to a middle-class wage to allow for more equity of

candidates, changing campaign contribution limits, amendments to

the charter being implemented in phases, and changing charter

amendments to happen more frequently than every 10 years.

A straw vote was taken on whether or not to support putting a

measure on the ballot for a directly elected mayor. Ten Committee

members present did not support, and seven members present

were in support. Chair Cisco will provide the City Council the

Committee's decision to not move forward with a ballot measure for

a directly elected mayor on the ballot.

5. COMMITTEE CHAIR'S/CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS

Chair Cisco reported she provided an update to the City Council at

their meeting on January 25, 2022, on the Committee's progress

and process to date, and shared Council Member Natalie Rogers

thanks and praise to the Committee for their service and

commitment to this process.

Proposed Schedule (Uploaded 2-2-2022)

Attachments:

6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS - NONE.

7. WRITTEN AND/OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS - NONE.

8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

City Attorney Gallagher reviewed a proposed schedule of the topics

for Committee discussion with May 11 being the Committee's last

meeting. Future agenda items are:

- Ranked choice voting for Council member elections

- Council Compensation

- the Omnibus measure including the allowance for a two-year

budget process

The Committee will decide on their next priorities for discussion.

No public comments were made.

9. ADJOURNMENT

Chair Cisco adjourned the meeting at 7:39 p.m. The next meeting is

scheduled for February 16, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.

Approved on: February 16, 2022

/s/ Stephanie A. Williams, City Clerk