Title
Referral to the Ballot - Charter Amendments Relating to City of Phoenix Election Dates (Ordinance S-44500)
Description
An Ordinance referring four proposed amendments to the Charter of the City of Phoenix to voters for their approval or rejection related to changing the dates for the regular City of Phoenix candidate elections to November of even-numbered years, and the potential Runoff election to the following March. If approved by the voters, these Charter Amendments would consolidate the regular City of Phoenix candidate elections for mayor and city council members to November of even years with the State General Elections conducted by Maricopa County.
Report
Summary
At the March 7, 2018, Formal meeting, the City Council voted to direct staff to draft language to refer Charter Amendments to the ballot to change the dates on which regular City of Phoenix candidate elections are held. This item is an ordinance to refer four proposed Charter Amendments to voters to appear on the ballot at the State Primary Election conducted by Maricopa County on Aug. 28, 2018. The proposed Ordinance containing the text of the proposed changes is included as Attachment A.
1. The first ballot measure proposes amendments to the following sections of the City Charter necessary to change the election dates and consolidate the City election with the State General Election conducted by the County.
Chapter XIII, Section 6 - Amendment to remove the prohibition on holding elections for mayor and council on the same date as State elections.
Chapter III, Section 6 - Change the date for regular mayor and council and runoff elections from August and November of odd years, to November of even years and the following March, respectively; change the date that council terms begin to the third Monday in April to align with the new election dates; change the latest date for the canvass of vote from within 15 days after the election to within 15 days after the final unofficial results are received from the County to provide the additional time needed by the county to tabulate votes in a state election; and authorize the County to designate the polling places for City elections when the election is conducted by the County.
2. The second ballot measure proposes to amend Chapter XXII, Section 3 to remove the requirement that the full text of proposed Charter amendments be printed on the ballot unless the City Council votes unanimously for the measure to appear on the ballot using a shorter descriptive title. This change is necessary because there is limited space available on the County ballot for the State primary and general elections. The full text of proposed Charter Amendments will still be available to all voters in the publicity pamphlet and other materials.
3. The third ballot measure proposes to change the term for the Citizens Commission on Salaries for Elected City Officials, which is appointed to review and make recommendations to voters on the salaries for the mayor and council members, from odd years to even years to align with the year of the election. It also would change the frequency of appointment of the Commission from every two years to every four years in the year of the regular elections for mayor, as recommended by the Salary Commission in 2015.
4. The fourth ballot measure is not required to implement the change to election dates, but has been recommended as an efficiency measure to expedite certification of petitions and reduce the cost of verification. This measure proposes to amend Chapter XV, Section 3, and Chapter XVI, Section 3, to change the requirement for verifying signatures on initiative and referendum petitions from verifying 100 percent of the signatures to verifying a random sample of 20 percent of the signatures. Under State law, statewide initiative and referendum measures, and those in all other jurisdictions, are verified based on a five percent random sample.
Public Outreach
At the request of the City Council during the March 7, 2018, Formal meeting, the City Clerk Department conducted eight public hearings about the proposed change of regular City election dates. These meetings were held either before or after City of Phoenix Budget Hearings that had already been scheduled throughout the City. Phoenix residents had an opportunity to learn about the proposed changes, ask questions, and make comments. The presentation and video of the hearings also were made available to the public online.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Acting Deputy City Manager Toni Maccarone and the City Clerk Department.