BILL NUMBER: SB 493	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 7, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 20, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Cannella
    (   Principal coauthor:   Assembly Member
  Alejo   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to add Section  34885   34886  to
the Government Code, relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 493, as amended, Cannella. Elections in cities: by or from
districts.
   Existing law generally requires all elective city offices,
including the members of a city council, to be filled at large by the
city electorate at a general municipal election. Existing law, at
any municipal election or special election held for this purpose,
authorizes the legislative body of a city to submit to the registered
voters an ordinance providing for the election of members of the
legislative body by district or from district, as defined, and with
or without an elective mayor.
   This bill would authorize the legislative body of a city  with
a population of fewer than 100,000 people  to adopt an
ordinance that requires the members of the legislative body to be
elected by district or by district with an elective mayor without
being required to submit the ordinance to the voters for approval.
 The bill would require the ordinance to include a specified
declaration and would require the population of the city to be
determined by the most recent federal decennial census. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section  34885   34886  is
added to the Government Code, to read:
    34885.   34886.    (a)  
 Notwithstanding Section 34871 or any other law, the legislative
body of a city  with a population of fewer than 100,000 people
 may adopt an ordinance that requires the members of the
legislative body to be elected by district or by district with an
elective mayor, as described in subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section
34871, without being required to submit the ordinance to the voters
for approval.  An ordinance adopted pursuant to this subdivision
shall include a declarat   ion that the change in the method
of electing members of the legislative body is being made in
furtherance of the purposes of the California Voting Rights Act of
2001 (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 14025) of Division 14 of
the Elections Code).  
   (b) For purposes of this section, the population of a city shall
be determined by the most recent federal decennial census.