San Clemente Municipal Code Ch. 2.04 City Council

The regular meetings of the City Council shall be established by resolution.

(Ord. 1224 § 1, 1999: prior code § 2-1)

The place of meeting of the City Council shall be in the Council Chambers, Civic Center Building, 910 Calle Negocio, San Clemente, California.

(Prior code § 2-2)

(Ord. No. 1767, § 1, 12-5-2023)

All notices of special meetings of the City Council shall be given to the members of the City Council in the time, form and manner provided by law.

(Prior code § 2-3)

Pursuant to Government Code Section 36516, each member of the City Council shall receive, as salary, the sum of four hundred dollars ($400.00) per month. The salary herein provided shall be payable at the same time and in the same manner as salaries are paid to other officers and employees of the City.

(Ord. 1217 § 1, 1999: Ord. 1163 § 3, 1995: prior code § 2-4)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1670, § 1, adopted March 5, 2019, repealed § 2.04.050, which pertained to proceedings governed by Robert's Rule of Order and derived from Prior Code § 2-5.

No member of the City Council or any person shall use profane, vulgar, loud or boisterous language in any meeting, or otherwise interrupt the proceedings, or refuse to be seated or keep quiet when ordered so to do by the Mayor. It shall be the duty of any police officer upon order of the Mayor to eject any such member or person from the City Council room.

(Prior code § 2-6)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1700, § 1, adopted May 19, 2020, repealed § 2.07.070, which pertained to the calling of special elections to fill council vacancies and derived from Ord. 1163 §§ 4—6, adopted in 1995 and from prior code § 2-8.

A. .....It is hereby found and declared, pursuant to Section 33101 of the Community Redevelopment Law, that there is a need for the development agency created by Section 33100 of said Law to function in the City of San Clemente and said agency is hereby authorized to transact business and exercise its powers pursuant to and under the provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law, being Division 24 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California.

B. .....The City Council of the City of San Clemente, California, hereby, pursuant to Section 33200 of said Community Redevelopment Law, declares itself to be the redevelopment agency provided by subsection A of this section, and that all rights, powers, duties, privileges and immunities vested by the Community Redevelopment Law in such agency shall be, and are, vested in this body.

C. .....The City Clerk shall cause a certified copy of this ordinance to be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State.

D. .....The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter, and shall cause the same to be published once in the "Daily Sun Post," a newspaper of general circulation in the City of San Clemente, which is hereby designated for said purpose and the ordinance codified in this chapter shall take effect thirty (30) days after its final passage.

(Ord. 642 §§ 1—4, 1975)

A. .....No person shall be eligible to serve in the office of City Council Member for more than two consecutive four year terms.

1. The limits set forth in this ordinance shall apply to any four year term to which a person was elected to serve in the office of City Council at the November 3, 2020 general election or at any future election.

2. The limits set forth in this ordinance shall also apply to any four year term to which a person was appointed by the City Council in lieu of a general election scheduled for November 3, 2020 or any future election to serve in the office of City Council, pursuant to California Elections Code Section 10229 or similar State law.

3. Except as set forth in subsection (B) below, the limits set forth in this ordinance shall not apply to any partial term (less than four years) to which a person is appointed by the City Council or elected at a special election to fill a vacant City Council office.

B. .....No person who has been elected to or held office as a member of the City Council for two consecutive four year terms shall again be eligible for election or appointment as a member of the City Council unless and until not less than two years has or will have elapsed between the most recent date of such person's prior service as a member of the City Council and the effective date of such person's most recent election or appointment to such office. Notwithstanding subsection (A)(3) above, a former member of the City Council shall not be appointed or specially elected to a partial City Council term in order to fill a vacant City Council office during this two year period.

C. .....The phrase "two years" as used in this subparagraph B of this section shall mean the period between the date of the declaration of the results of any general municipal election held in November of any even numbered year and the date of the declaration of the results of any general municipal election held in November of any immediately preceding or immediately succeeding even numbered year even though such period may be more or less than an actual period of two years.

D. .....The City Clerk, or other election official authorized by law, shall not accept or verify the signatures on any nomination paper for any person, including any paper for the purpose of seeking election as a write-in candidate, nor shall he or she certify or place on the list of certified candidates, nor print or cause to be printed on any ballot, ballot pamphlet, sample ballot or ballot label, the name of any person whose candidacy, if successful, will result in a new City Council term that exceeds the limits set forth herein.

(Ord. No. 1691, § 1, 11-3-2020)

Pursuant to California Government Code sections 34886 and 34871(c), commencing with the November 2024 general municipal election, the members of the San Clemente City Council shall be elected by-districts in four (4) single-member districts with an elective Mayor. Each Councilmember shall serve a term of four years subject to the term limit set forth in section 2.04.090. The Mayor shall be elected at large by the people of San Clemente and shall serve a term of two years, with a life-time term limit of three full terms, and without the ability to run for Mayor again after completing three full terms.

(Ord. No. 1762, § 10, 11-7-2023)

A. .....Beginning with the general municipal election in November 2024, Councilmembers shall be elected in the electoral districts reflected on the map contained in Exhibit A hereto, which is incorporated fully herein by this reference, and as subsequently reapportioned as provided by law. Elections shall take place on a by-district basis as that term is defined in California Government Code section 34871, meaning one member of the City Council shall be elected from each district, by the voters of that district alone, except for the Mayor, who shall be elected citywide. In accordance with section 2.04.10, each Councilmember shall serve a four-year term until his or her successor has qualified.

B. .....Except as provided in subdivision (C) hereof, the Councilmember elected to represent a district must reside in that district and be a registered voter in that district, and any candidate for City Council must live, and be a registered voter in, the district in which he or she seeks election at the time nomination papers are issued, pursuant to California Government Code section 34882 and Elections Code section 10227. Termination of residency in a district by a Councilmember shall create an immediate vacancy for that Council district unless a substitute residence within the district is established within 30 days after the termination of residency.

C. .....Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, each of the Councilmembers in office at the time this article takes effect shall continue in office until the expiration of the full term to which he or she was elected and until his or her successor is qualified. Vacancies in Councilmember offices elected at-large may be filled from the City at-large. At the end of the term of each Councilmember, that member's successor shall be elected on a by-district basis in the districts established in Subsection A and the map contained in Exhibit A hereto, as subsequently reapportioned as provided by law. A vacancy in a Councilmember office elected by-district shall be filled by a person qualified to hold the office, who is a resident of the district.

(Ord. No. 1762, § 2, 11-7-2023)

A. .....Consistent with Sections 2.04.10 and 2.04.11, Councilmembers from Council Districts 3 and 4 shall be elected beginning at the General Municipal Election in November 2024, and every four years thereafter.

B. .....Consistent with Section 2.04.11, the Mayor shall be elected beginning in 2026 and every two years after, and Councilmembers from Council Districts 1 and 2 shall be elected beginning at the General Municipal Election in November 2026, and every four years thereafter.

(Ord. No. 1762, § 4, 11-7-2023)