Cathedral City Municipal Code Art. I Municipal Affairs

The City shall have full power and authority to adopt, make, exercise and enforce all legislation, laws, and regulations and to take all actions relating to municipal affairs, without limitation, which may be lawfully adopted, made, exercised, taken or enforced under the Constitution of the State of California. Without limiting in any manner the foregoing power and authority, each of the powers, rights, and responsibilities described in this Charter is hereby declared to be a municipal affair, the performance of which is unique to the benefit and welfare of the citizens of the City of Cathedral City.

The City of Cathedral City, in the County of Riverside, State of California, shall continue to be a municipal corporation under its present name City of Cathedral City. The boundaries of the City of Cathedral City shall continue as now established until changed in the manner authorized by law. The City of Cathedral City shall remain vested with and shall continue to own, possess, control and enjoy all property rights of property and rights of action of every nature and description owned, had, possessed, controlled or enjoyed by it at the time this Charter takes effect, and is hereby declared to be the successor of same. It shall be subject to all debts, obligations and liabilities, which exist against the municipality at the time this Charter takes effect. All lawful ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations, or portions thereof, in force at the time this Charter takes effect and not in conflict with or inconsistent herewith, are hereby continued in force until the same have been duly repealed, amended, changed or superseded by proper authority.

The citizens of Cathedral City, being mindful of the increasing tax burden upon them, confer no increased power to tax upon the City. The City of Cathedral City shall have only that power to tax allowed to general law cities.

The City Council may determine the maximum amount of any fine, penalty or forfeiture for violations of a City ordinance or resolution.

The City recognizes and values the work performed by its employees and will endeavor where deemed reasonably feasible by the City Council to utilize the labor of its employees for the performance of general municipal services. Mindful of Government Codes Sections 37103, 53060 and 54981, as well as the provisions of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the City shall not contract with any public or private entity for services that are being performed by employees of the City as of the effective date of the Charter without first undertaking a meet and confer process with the affected employees or, where represented, with their recognized bargaining group, regarding both the decision to contract the service and the effects of the decision. Any contract for such services shall be brought to the City Council at a regularly scheduled public meeting for final consideration of approval by the City Council. Notwithstanding the forgoing, nothing in this section is intended to limit the authority of the City Council to contract for services in the following circumstances: (1) temporary services during a declared emergency; (2) a service to provide temporary employees to fill a vacancy during the recruitment to fill the vacancy; (3) professional or specialized services including without limitation legal counsel, auditing, real estate services, financial advisors, and similar services; (4) insurance, bonding or participation in shared risk pools; (5) participation in joint powers authorities providing services in addition to or outside of general municipal services; or (6) local or regional task forces in which multiple jurisdictions combine employees and/or contractors to provide a specific service or function.