The elective officers of the City shall consist of a City Council of seven members, including the Mayor. The Mayor shall be elected from the City at large at the times and in the manner provided in this Charter. The members of the City Council shall be elected or appointed, as applicable, by and from single member electoral districts in which they reside, as such districts may be established as provided in this Charter. The Mayor and members of the City Council shall serve for terms of four years and until their respective successors qualify.
The term of the Mayor and each member of the City Council shall commence on the day of the first Council meeting in the month of January following the receipt of certification of election results. Ties in voting among candidates for office shall be settled by the casting of lots.
(Amended pursuant to elections held November 5, 1968; November 2, 1982; November 2, 1993; November 6, 2018)
No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the City Council for more than two consecutive four year terms. No person shall be eligible to serve as Mayor for more than two consecutive four year terms. No person shall be eligible to serve consecutively as a member of the City Council and Mayor, or as a Mayor and as a member of the City Council, for more than a total four consecutive four year terms, with no more than two consecutive terms in either office. Any term of elected or appointed service of two years or more shall constitute a four year term for the purposes of this section. Election to a term of office beginning prior to the effective date of this amendment shall not disqualify any incumbent from completing said term.
(Amended pursuant to elections held November 6, 1990; November 6, 2018)
No person shall be eligible to hold office as Mayor or as a member of the City Council unless he or she is and shall have been a resident and qualified elector of the City and the applicable electoral district for at least 30 days next preceding the date of his or her election or appointment. The City Council shall judge the qualifications of its members as set forth by this Charter.
(Amended pursuant to election held November 6, 2018)
Beginning July 1, 2005, the members of the City Council, except the Mayor, shall receive an annual salary in the sum equal to 80% of the annual Area Median Income and the Mayor shall receive an annual salary equal to 100% of the Area Median Income. In addition, the Mayor and each member of the City Council shall receive reimbursement on order of the City Council for Council authorized traveling and other expenses when on official duty upon submission of an itemized expense account therefor, or may receive an advance for such purposes subject to such accounting. In addition, members shall receive such uniform, reasonable and adequate amount as may be established by ordinance, which amount shall be deemed to be reimbursement to them of other routine and ordinary expenses and costs imposed upon them by virtue of their serving as City Councilmen, including the Mayor.
The term "Area Median Income" shall refer to the annual Area Median Income for a one-person household within Santa Barbara County as determined and set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or, if the Housing and Urban Development Area Median Income determination is not available for any reason, by a comparable index published by the state of California. The Mayor and City Council member salaries shall also be adjusted each year as of the first day of April based on changes in the Area Median Income.
(Amended pursuant to elections held March 8, 1977; November 4, 1986; November 2, 2004)
Any vacancy on the City Council in the office of Mayor or Councilmember shall be filled by special election. The special election shall be called by the Council within 30 days of the occurrence of such vacancy and shall be held on the next regularly established general municipal, district, county, or state election date not less than 114 days from the call of the special election, unless Council chooses to call a special election at an earlier point in time. If a vacancy on the City Council in the office of Mayor or Councilmember occurs within one year of the end of the term of office for the vacancy, the Council may make an interim appointment with no special election required.
After the special election has been called, the Council may make an interim appointment to the vacant Council district. The person appointed to fill the vacancy on an interim basis shall meet all of the qualifications for such office and shall serve until the candidate elected at the special election has taken office. In addition, no interim appointee shall use any ballot designation indicating membership, former membership, or incumbency, or former incumbency on the Council or the office of Mayor, unless said person has previously been elected to the office for which membership or incumbency is claimed and the ballot designation is otherwise lawful.
If the Mayor or any other member of the City Council absents himself or herself from all regular meetings of the City Council for a period of 60 days consecutively from and after the last regular Council meeting attended by him or her, unless by permission of the City Council expressed in its official minutes, or if convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or ceases to be an elector of the City and applicable election district, his or her office shall become vacant. The City Council shall declare the existence of any such vacancy.
(Amended pursuant to elections held June 4, 1974; November 2, 1982; November 6, 2018)
The Mayor shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of the City Council and shall be included as a member of the City Council for all purposes under this Charter unless otherwise expressly provided. He shall be counted in determining a quorum and shall be entitled to vote on all matters, but shall possess no veto power. The Mayor may make and second motions and shall have a voice and vote in all its proceedings. He shall be the official head of the City for all ceremonial purposes. He shall have the primary but not the exclusive responsibility for interpreting the policies, programs and needs of the City government to the people, and as occasion requires, he may inform the people of any change in policy or program. He shall perform such other duties consistent with his office as may be prescribed by this Charter or as may be imposed by the City Council.
The City Council shall designate one of its members as Mayor Pro Tempore, who shall serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the City Council. The Mayor Pro Tempore shall perform the duties of the Mayor during the absence or disability of the Mayor.
All powers of the City shall be vested in the City Council except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
The City Council shall hold regular meetings at least once each week at such times as it shall fix by ordinance or resolution and may adjourn or re-adjourn any regular meeting to a date and hour certain which shall be specified in the order of adjournment and when so adjourned each adjourned meeting shall be a regular meeting for all purposes. If the hour to which a meeting is adjourned is not stated in the order of adjournment, such meeting shall be held at the hour for holding regular meetings. If at any time any regular meeting falls on a holiday such regular meeting shall be held on the next business day.
A special meeting may be called at any time by the Mayor, or by a majority of the members of the City Council, by written notice to each member of the City Council and to each local newspaper of general circulation, radio or television station requesting notice in writing. Such notice must be delivered personally or by mail and must be received at least 24 hours before the time of such meeting as specified in the notice. The call and notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at such meeting. Such written notice may be dispensed with as to any person entitled thereto who, at or prior to the time the meeting convenes, files with the City Clerk a written waiver of notice. Such waiver may be given by telegram. Such written notice may also be dispensed with as to any person who is actually present at the meeting at the time it convenes.
(Amended pursuant to election held November 2, 1982)
All meetings shall be held in the Council Chambers of the City Hall, or in such place within the City to which any such meeting may be adjourned, and shall be open to the public. If, by reason of fire, flood or other emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in the place designated, the meetings may be held for the duration of the emergency at such place within the City as is designated by the Mayor, or, if he should fail to act, by a majority of the members of the City Council.
A majority of the members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum to do business but a lesser number may adjourn from time to time. In the absence of all the members of the City Council from any regular meeting or adjourned regular meeting, the City Clerk may declare the same adjourned to a stated day and hour. The City Clerk shall cause written notice of a meeting adjourned by less than a quorum or by the City Clerk to be delivered personally or by mail to each Councilman at least 24 hours before the time to which the meeting is adjourned, or such notice may be dispensed with in the same manner specified in this Charter for dispensing with notice of special meetings of the City Council. The City Council shall judge all election returns. It may establish rules for the conduct of its proceedings and evict or prosecute any member or other person for disorderly conduct at any of its meetings.
Each member of the City Council including the Mayor shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations in any investigation or proceeding pending before the City Council. The City Council shall have the power and authority to compel the attendance of witnesses, to examine them under oath and to compel the production of evidence before it. Subpoenas shall be issued in the name of the City and be attested by the City Clerk. They shall be served and complied with in the same manner as subpoenas in civil actions. Disobedience of such subpoenas, or the refusal to testify (under other than constitutional grounds), shall constitute a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable in the same manner as violations of this Charter are punishable.
Upon the adoption of any order for the payment of money, or any ordinance, resolution, or upon the demand of any member, the City Clerk shall call the role and shall cause the ayes and nays taken on such questions to be entered in the minutes of the meeting.
All regular and special meetings of the City Council shall be open and public and all persons shall be permitted to attend such meetings, except that the provisions of this section shall not apply to executive sessions to consider the appointment, employment, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear complaints or charges brought against any such officer or employee. No resident or property owner shall be denied the right to be heard by the City Council, but such right shall be subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as may be authorized or adopted by ordinance. A discussion with the City Attorney relating to pending, proposed or threatened litigation shall not be considered to be a regular or special meeting within the meaning of this section.
With the sole exception of emergency ordinances which take effect upon adoption, referred to in this Article, no ordinance shall be adopted by the City Council on the day of its introduction, nor within five days thereafter nor at any time other than at a regular or adjourned regular meeting. At the time of its introduction an ordinance shall become a part of the proceedings of such meeting in the custody of the City Clerk. At the time of introduction or adoption of an ordinance or resolution it shall be read in full, unless after the reading of the title thereof, the further reading thereof is waived by unanimous consent of the Councilmen present, except that emergency ordinances shall be read in full. In the event that any ordinance is altered after its introduction, the same shall not finally be adopted except at a regular or adjourned regular meeting held not less than five days after the date upon which such ordinance was so altered. The correction of typographical or clerical errors shall not constitute the making of an alteration within the meaning of the foregoing sentence.
No order for the payment of money shall be adopted or made at any other than a regular or adjourned regular meeting.
Unless a higher vote is required by other provisions of this Charter, the affirmative votes of at least four members of the City Council shall be required for the enactment of any ordinance or resolution, or for the making or approving of any order for payment of money. All ordinances and resolutions shall be signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk.
Any ordinance declared by the City Council to be necessary as an emergency measure for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and containing a statement of the reasons for its urgency, may be introduced and adopted at one and the same meeting if passed by at least five affirmative votes.
In addition to such other acts of the City Council as are required by this Charter to be taken by ordinance, every act of the City Council establishing a fine or other penalty, or granting a franchise, shall be by ordinance.
The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be substantially as follows: "The City Council of the City of Santa Barbara does ordain as follows".
The City Clerk shall cause each ordinance to be published at least once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption; provided, that the Council, in lieu of such publication, in its discretion may order any ordinance published by title only in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption, and providing that the full text be available to the public at the City Clerk's Office, and such publication by title only shall so state.
(Amended pursuant to election held April 15, 1969)
Any or all ordinances of the City which have been enacted and published in the manner required at the time of their adoption, and which have not been repealed, shall be compiled, consolidated, revised, indexed and arranged as a comprehensive Ordinance Code, and such Code may be adopted by reference, with the same effect as an ordinance, by the passage of an ordinance for such purpose. Such Code need not be published in the manner required for other ordinances, but not less than three copies thereof shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the Office of the City Clerk prior to the adoption thereof. Ordinances codified shall be repealed as of the effective date of the Code. Amendments to the Code shall be enacted by ordinance. Once adopted, a sufficient number of loose-leaf copies of said Code (which shall be entitled "Santa Barbara Municipal Code") for use by the City and interested members of the public shall be made available and such Code shall be kept current by the City Clerk.
Detailed regulations pertaining to any subject such as the construction of buildings, plumbing and wiring, or fire prevention, when arranged as a comprehensive code, may likewise be adopted by reference in the manner provided by this section. Maps, charts and diagrams also may be adopted by reference in the same manner.
Every ordinance shall become effective 30 days from and after the date of its adoption, except the following, which shall take effect upon adoption:
(a) 
An ordinance calling or otherwise relating to an election;
(b) 
An improvement proceeding ordinance adopted under some special law or procedural ordinance relating thereto;
(c) 
An ordinance declaring the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation, or fixing the rate of property taxation, or levying the annual tax upon property;
(d) 
An emergency ordinance adopted in the manner provided in this Article.
A violation of any ordinance of the City shall constitute a misdemeanor or infraction and may be prosecuted in the name of the People of the State of California and/or may be redressed by civil action. The maximum fine or penalty for any violation of a City ordinance shall be the sum of $1,000, or a term of imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or both.
(Amended pursuant to election held November 2, 1982)
The amendment of any section or subsection of an ordinance or Municipal Code may be accomplished solely by the re-enactment of such section or subsection at length, as amended.
The City Council shall contract for the publication of all legal notices, ordinances and other matter required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. Each such contract shall cover a period of not less than one nor more than two years. In the event there is more than one newspaper of general circulation published within the City, the contract shall be made only after the publication of a notice inviting bids therefor. In the event there is only one newspaper of general circulation published in the City, then the City Council shall have the power to contract with such newspaper for the printing and publishing of such legal notices or matter without being required to advertise for bids therefor. The newspaper with which any such contract is made shall be the official newspaper for the publication of such notices or other matter for the period of such contract. Any such newspaper of general circulation shall mean a newspaper adjudicated to be a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
In no case shall the contract prices for such publication exceed the customary rates charged by such newspaper for the publication of legal notices of a private character.
In the event there is no newspaper of general circulation published in the City, or in the event no such newspaper will accept such notices or other matter at the rates permitted herein, then all legal notices or other matter may be published by posting copies thereof in at least three public places in the City to be designated by ordinance.
No defect or irregularity in proceedings taken under this section, or failure to designate an official newspaper, shall invalidate any publication where the same is otherwise in conformity with the Charter or law or ordinance.
The City shall not be bound by any contract, except as hereinafter provided, unless the same shall be made in writing, approved by the City Council and signed on behalf of the City by the Mayor and City Clerk or by such other officer or officers as shall be designated by the City Council. Any of said officers shall sign a contract on behalf of the City when directed to do so by the City Council.
By ordinance or resolution not inconsistent with this Charter the City Council may authorize the City Administrator or other officer to bind the City, with or without a written contract, for the acquisition of equipment, materials, supplies, labor, services or other items included within the budget approved by the City Council, and may impose a monetary limit upon such authority.
The City Council may by ordinance or resolution provide a method for the sale or exchange of personal property not needed in the City service or not fit for the purpose for which intended, and for the conveyance of title thereto.
Contracts for the sale of the products, commodities or services of any public utility owned, controlled or operated by the City may be made by the manager of such utility or by the head of the department or City Administrator upon forms approved by the City Administrator and at rates fixed by the City Council.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the employment of any person by the City at a regular salary.
The City Council by ordinance shall establish procedures for competitive procurement of contracts for public works and improvements not otherwise prohibited by law. The City may also procure contracts for public works and improvements by any procedure authorized by state statute.
(Amended pursuant to election held March 8, 1977; and the election held March 5, 2024)
No land acquired by the City for or dedicated to public park or recreation purposes and no beach property or public utility now or hereafter owned or operated by the City shall be sold, leased or otherwise transferred, encumbered or disposed of unless authorized by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the total membership of the City Council and by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the electors voting on such proposition at a general or special election at which such proposition is submitted. Concessions, permits or leases compatible with and accessory to the purposes to which the property is devoted by the City and which are permitted by contract from and regulated by the City shall not be subject to this paragraph.
No other land owned by the City, unless the value thereof is less than $5,000 shall be sold, transferred or disposed of or encumbered, unless such sale, transfer, disposition or encumbrance be made or approved by ordinance which shall be subject to referendum.
(Amended pursuant to election held June 6, 1978)
No contract or lease or extension thereof by which the City is bound for a longer period than five years shall be valid unless said contract, lease or extension be made or approved by ordinance which shall be subject to referendum; nor may the City lease property owned, held or controlled by it for any period exceeding 50 years. This section shall not apply to any franchise granted pursuant to the provisions of this Charter or to any contract for the furnishing or acquisition of the products, commodity or services of any public utility.
The revenue of the Water Department operated by the City for each fiscal year shall be kept separate and apart from all other moneys of the City and shall be used for the purposes and in the order as follows:
(a) 
For the acquisition of water and payment of the operating and maintenance expenses of such utility, including any necessary contribution to retirement of its employees.
(b) 
For the payment of interest on the bonded debt incurred for the construction, improvement or acquisition of such utility.
(c) 
For the payment, or provision for the payment, of the principal of said debt as it may become due.
(d) 
For capital expenditures of such utility.
(e) 
For the annual payment into the Contingency Reserve Account of an amount up to 5% of the gross revenue of such utility during the previous fiscal year. This Contingency Reserve Account shall be available for use by said utility only for capital replacements or emergency repairs and only after appropriation by the City Council.