The elective officers of the City of Los Alamitos shall consist of a City Council of five (5) members elected by-district.
(Passed by the voters as Measure X at the election of November 5, 2024)
To be eligible to hold the office of Councilmember the person must meet the requirements as set forth in the State law of the State of California, and he/she shall be a resident and an elector of the Council district within the City of Los Alamitos wherein he/she lives for a period of thirty (30) days prior to the date his/her nomination papers are filed. If a person elected as a member of the City Council, during his/her term of office, moves his/her place of residence outside of their respective Council district boundaries or ceases to be an elector of the City, his/her office shall immediately become vacant. However, no Councilmember shall be deemed to have moved outside of his/her Council district as a result of district boundary changes which may occur during his/her term of office, and such Councilmember shall continue to serve until his/her term is complete or the office otherwise becomes vacant.
(Passed by the voters as Measure X at the election of November 5, 2024)
A.
No person shall serve more than three (3) consecutive terms of office as a member of the City Council representing any one Council district or a combination of more than one Council district. For the purpose of this section, a "term" shall include service on the Council for any period of seven hundred thirty-one (731) consecutive days or longer.
B.
Any person who has served three (3) consecutive terms as a member of the City Council for any one Council district or a combination of more than one Council district shall not be eligible to serve again until the expiration of at least three hundred sixty-five (365) consecutive days after the end of such person's last term of office.
C.
Pursuant to California Government Code section 36502(b), this section shall apply prospectively only. This section shall apply to the terms of office commencing with the election in November 2024. Terms that are commenced, and years that are served, as members of the City Council prior to November 2024 shall not be included when calculating the number of terms or years served for purposes of this section.
(Passed by the voters as Measure X at the election of November 5, 2024)
A vacancy in the City Council from whatever cause arising shall be filled either by appointment of the City Council or by election. The City Council shall determine whether to fill a vacancy by election or by appointment; provided, however, if the City Council determines to fill a vacancy by appointment but fails to do so within sixty (60) days after the vacancy occurs, the Council shall forthwith cause an election to be held to fill the vacancy.
A person elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office for the entire unexpired term of the former incumbent.
A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the entire unexpired term of the former incumbent unless there remain two (2) years or more of said unexpired term on the date of appointment. In such case, the City Council shall decide by majority vote prior to such appointment whether the appointment shall be for the entire unexpired term or only until the next general municipal election. If the seat is filled by appointment only until the next general municipal election, then at said election the seat shall be filled by vote of the people.
If at said next general municipal election there are four (4) or more council seats to be filled, the three (3) persons each receiving the largest number of votes shall each serve a term of four (4) years while the person(s) elected to fill the remaining seat(s) shall serve for a term of two (2) years.
If a member of the City Council is absent from all regular meetings of the City Council for a period of sixty days consecutively from and after the last regular City Council meeting attended by such members, unless by permission of the City Council ex pressed in its official minutes or as provided in Section 1404, or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or ceases to be a qualified elector of his/her district, his/her office shall become vacant and shall be so declared by the City Council.
As compensation for their services, the Councilmembers shall each receive compensation at the respective rates in effect at the time this Charter becomes effective; provided that these rates of compensation may be changed by the majority vote of the electors of the City voting for such change in accordance with the State law of the State of California. Provided further, that the respective rates may also be changed according to any other applicable provision of the State law of the State of California.
(Passed by the voters as Measure X at the election of November 5, 2024)
A.
Purpose and intent. The purpose and intent of this section is to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption in City Council candidates' electoral campaigns that can arise where unlimited campaign contribution amounts may be made to candidates by a single source for election to the City Council, and to ensure an environment in the City of Los Alamitos wherein all City Council candidates are placed on an equal plane relative to the amount of campaign contributions received by them from a single source, and further to ensure that the amount contributed by any person does not materially influence the outcome of any election. In furtherance of that goal, a reasonable campaign contribution limitation is hereby enacted that is similar to those enacted by other communities that are similar to Los Alamitos. In those communities, such limitations have not inhibited city council candidates' ability to conduct meaningful and effective campaigns, but they have limited the appearance and incidents of corruption that have been experienced. To achieve this purpose, this section imposes a maximum limitation on the amount of campaign contributions which may be received by candidates from a single source for an elective city office campaign.
B.
Relation to the Political Reform Act. This section is intended to be a supplement to and in no way conflict with the Political Reform Act of 1974. Unless otherwise defined in this section, words and phrases shall have the same meaning herein as that given to them by the Political Reform Act of 1974, as the same may be, from time to time, amended.
C. "City Council candidate" "Contribution"i. a. b. c. ii. iii. "Person"
Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
means an individual who is listed on the ballot or who has qualified to have write-in votes on their behalf counted by election officials, for nomination for or election to the Los Alamitos City Council, or who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure or gives their consent for any other person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure with a view to bringing about their nomination or election to the Los Alamitos City Council, whether or not they have announced their candidacy or filed a declaration of candidacy at such time. The term "candidate" also includes any City Councilmember who is the subject of a recall election. An individual who becomes a candidate for the Los Alamitos City Council shall retain their status as a candidate until such time as that status is terminated pursuant to Government Code section 84214.
means any payment made for political purposes for which full and adequate consideration is not made to the donor.
A contribution includes:
Any goods or services received by or requested by a City Council candidate or their candidate controlled committee, at no charge or at a discount from the fair market value, unless the discount is given in the regular course of business to members of the public.
Cash.
A loan or an extension of credit for more than 30 days, other than loans from financial institutions given in the normal course of business.
Payment made for political purposes is a payment made:
Payments for communications to members, employees, shareholders, or families of members, employees, or shareholders of an organization for the purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate or a ballot measure are not contributions, provided those payments are not made for general public advertising such as broadcasting, billboards, and newspaper advertisements.
means any individual, proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, business trust, company, corporation, limited liability company, association, committee, political action committee, labor union, and any other organization or group of persons acting in concert.
D.
Single-election Campaign Contribution Limit. No person shall make, and no City Council candidate or candidate controlled committee shall solicit or accept from any person, any contribution of more than $500, or such other amount as may be established by the City Council at a public hearing, in any single election. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a candidate's contribution of their personal funds, community property funds or domestic partnership funds to their own candidate controlled committee but shall apply to separate property contributions from the candidate's spouse or domestic partner.
(Passed by the voters as Measure X at the election of November 5, 2024)
Persons or firms that try to influence City decisions by lobbying City Councilmembers, the City Manager, or other City Officers shall be required to register their names and the names of their clients with the City Clerk and disclose the nature of their lobbying efforts, compensation, donations, and fundraising efforts. Such registration and disclosures shall be made accessible to the public. The City Council shall adopt policies, procedures and regulations as needed to implement this section.