The elective officers of the City shall consist of:
A City Council composed of five (5) members who are registered voters of the City, four (4) to be residents of their respective districts and nominated and elected only by the residents of their respective districts. The fifth shall be nominated and elected from the City at large and shall hold the office of Mayor:
Other elected officers of the City shall be:
A City Clerk;
A City Treasurer; and
A City Attorney.
All of the elected officers shall serve for a term of four (4) years. The terms of office of the members of the City Council residing in districts Two and Three, and the terms of office of the Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer and City Attorney elected in 1969 shall expire in the year 1973. The terms of office of the present members of the City Council residing in districts One and Four shall expire in the year 1971.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, in order to transition to new elections dates starting in 2024, each elected officer whose term of office would have expired on June 30, 2023, when the successor was elected and qualified, shall continue in office until the successor is elected and qualified on the first of the calendar month following the certification of the results of the General Municipal Election in 2024.
Starting in the year 2022, the terms of office of the Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Attorney, and Councilmembers elected from District 2 and District 3 shall commence in the year 2026 and in each fourth anniversary of the year 2022, and the terms of office of Councilmembers elected from District 1 and District 4 shall commence in the year 2024 and in each fourth anniversary of the year 2024.
The terms of all elective officers shall commence on the first of the calendar month following the certification of the election results and each shall serve until his successor is elected and qualified. Any ties in voting shall be settled by the casing of lots.
Provided, however, the City Council, on and after the operative date (as the term "operative date" is hereafter defined) shall be composed of seven (7) members, six (6) to be residents of their respective districts and nominated and elected only by the residents of their respective districts, and the seventh to be both nominated and elected from the City at large, and to be known as the Mayor.
At any time when the City Council finds by ordinance adopted by not less than four (4) affirmative votes that the population of the City exceeds 100,000 persons, the City Council shall thereupon, and within sixty (60) days after the effective date of such ordinance, adopt an ordinance by at least three (3) affirmative votes dividing the City into six (6) Districts for the purpose of electing members of the Council.
Said districts so revised and fixed shall comprise as nearly as practicable equal numbers of voters as determined by records of the registration of voters of Los Angeles County on file with the Registrar of Voters of said County and be composed of contiguous and compact territory and bounded by natural boundaries of street lines.
The ordinance shall provide the districts so that each Councilman then in office will reside within the district bearing the number of the district from which he was elected and District 5 and District 6 shall not include the residence of any of the members of the Council except that either such districts may include the residence of the Mayor.
Within thirty (30) days after the effective date of the ordinance establishing six (6) council district, the Council shall in the manner provided by law, call a special election for the purpose of holding an election for a councilman from District 5 and a councilman from District 6. If any candidate receives a majority for either of such offices, the City Council shall declare such candidate or candidates (as the case may be) elected. If no candidate for either or both of such offices receives a majority, a final election shall be held on the Fourth Tuesday following said election between the two candidates receiving the highest vote in the first election of each or either of said offices. Following said second election, the City Council shall declare the candidate receiving the highest vote for each or either of said offices elected.
Such election, including the nominations, notice, canvass and other proceedings, shall follow as near as may be practicable the procedures for elections. The Council may provide procedures for such elections by ordinance.
When the Council has declared a candidate elected for Districts 5 and a candidate elected for District 6, the provisions for a seven (7) member City Council shall become operative at 12:01 a.m. on the seventh day after such declaration or if candidates are declared elected in the two districts at different times, at 12:01 a.m. on the seventh day after the last such declaration. Such seventh day is herein defined as the operative dated.
The Councilman elected in the first instance from District 5 shall serve a term that shall commence on the operative date and shall end at the same time that the term of the councilman from District 1 ends. The Councilman elected in the first instance from District 6 shall serve a term that shall commence on the operative date and end at the same time as the term of the councilman from District 2 ends.
Councilmen thereafter elected from Districts 5 and 6 shall serve for a term of four (4) years.
On and after the operative date, the City shall be divided into six (6) districts notwithstanding the provisions of Section 501 of this Charter.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 502 of the Charter, and after the operative date, the City Council may change the boundaries of the Six Districts into which the City has been divided by ordinance adopted by at least five (5) affirmative votes whenever in the opinion of the City Council such is necessary to better equalize the population among the respective districts.
On and after the operative date whenever the provisions of the Charter call for three (3) affirmative votes, or the concurrence of the three (3) members of the City Council; or otherwise provide for an action to be taken by three (3) members of the City Council, such provisions shall be construed to require four (4) affirmative votes, or the concurrence of four (4) members of the City Council or otherwise provide for an action to be taken by four (4) members of the City Council.
On and after the operative date whenever the provisions of the Charter call for four (4) affirmative votes, or the concurrence of four (4) members of the City Council, or otherwise provide for an action to be taken by four (4) members of the City Council such provision shall be construed to require six (6) affirmative votes, or the concurrence of six (6) members of the City Council, or otherwise provide for an action to be taken by six (6) members of the City Council.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 502 of this Charter, on and after the operative date, a person shall be deemed to have been a resident of the City or a district, at a place which is, at the time of the election, within the City or the District. (Amended November 8, 2022)
The City shall be divided into four districts by Compton Boulevard from the East to the West city limits and by the Pacific Electric Railway from the North to the South city limits, as follows:
District One: All that territory, within the city limits, lying North of Compton Boulevard and West of the Pacific Electric Railway.
District Two: All that territory, within the city limits, lying North of Compton Boulevard and East of the Pacific Electric Railway.
District Three: All that territory, within the city limits, lying South of Compton Boulevard and West of the Pacific Electric Railway.
District Four: All that territory, within the city limits, lying South of Compton Boulevard and East of the Pacific Electric Railway.
The City Council may change the boundaries of the four districts into which the City is divided by ordinance adopted by at least four affirmative votes whenever, in the opinion of the City Council, such is necessary to better equalize the population among the respective districts.
No person shall be eligible to hold any other elective office of the City unless he shall be a qualified elector of the City and shall have been such qualified elector for at least thirty (30) days next preceding the date of his nomination or appointment, and as to the offices on the City Council where nomination is by district, unless he shall have been a qualified elector of his district for at least thirty (30) days next preceding the date of his nomination or appointment.
The members of the City Council shall receive reimbursement for necessary traveling and other expenses when on official duty out of the City on order of the City Council. In addition, members of the City Council, and the Mayor, shall receive a salary of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month.
Other Elective Officers. The other elective officers, shall severally receive at stated time a compensation for their services in their respective capacities to be fixed by ordinance adopted by the City Council, which compensation for such services shall not be increased or diminished as to any such officer after his election or appointment and during his term of office, nor within thirty days prior to the date when nomination papers for the position may be filed. (Amended June 3, 1957 and June 30, 1969)
A vacancy in any elective office, from whatever cause arising, shall be filled by appointment by the City Council, such appointee to hold office until the first Tuesday following the next general municipal election, as to any elective officer, and until his successor is elected and qualified. At the next general municipal election following any vacancies, such vacancies shall be filled by election and the person elected shall serve for the remainder of any unexpired term, and until his successor is elected and qualified.
If a member of the City Council absents himself from all regular meetings of his Council for a period of sixty days consecutively from and after the last regular meeting attended by such member, unless by permission of the body expressed in its official minutes, or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or ceases to be a bona fide resident of the City or District from which he resided at the time of his nomination in the case of a Councilman, or otherwise ceases to be eligible, his office shall become vacant and shall be so declared by the City Council.
In the event the City Council shall fail to fill a vacancy by appointment within thirty days after such office shall have been declared vacant, it shall forthwith cause an election to be held to fill such vacancy.