South Pasadena Municipal Code Art. XV By-District Electoral System

(a) The city council declares that the change in method of electing members of this city council hereby enacted is being made in furtherance of the CVRA of 2001.

(b) Beginning with the municipal election in November 2018, members of the city council shall be elected in the electoral districts established by subsection (c) of this section and subsequently reapportioned as provided by state law. Elections shall take place by district 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 the district alone. Each member of the city council shall serve a four-year term.

(c) Members of the city council shall be elected on a by-district basis from the five city council districts hereby established. The boundaries and identifying number of each district shall be as described on the city council district map attached to the ordinance codified in this section as “Attachment A” and incorporated by reference.

(d) Commencing with the general municipal election in November 2018 and thereafter, the voters in districts 4 and 5 shall elect members of the city council by district for full four-year terms. At the general municipal election in November 2020 and thereafter, the voters in districts 1, 2, and 3 shall elect members of the city council by district for full four-year terms.

(e) Each member of the city council 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 reside in, and be a registered voter in, the district in which he or she seeks election at the time nomination papers are issued pursuant to Government Code Section 34882 and Elections Code Section 10227. It is the intent of the city council that no term of any member of the city council that commenced prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section shall be affected by this article.

(f) Registered voters signing nomination papers or voting for a member of the city council shall be residents of the geographical area making up the district from which the candidate is to be elected.

(g) Termination of residency in a district by a city councilmember shall create an immediate vacancy for that city council district unless the city councilmember immediately declares and establishes another residence within the district within 30 days.

(h) If necessary to facilitate the implementation of this article, the city clerk is authorized to make technical adjustments to the district boundaries that do not substantively affect the populations in the districts, the eligibility of candidates, or the residence of elected officials within any district. The city clerk shall consult with the city manager and city attorney concerning any technical adjustments deemed necessary and shall advise the city council of any such adjustments required in the implementation of the districts. (Ord. No. 2318, § 1, 2017; Ord. No. 2362, § 2, 2022.)

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Code reviser’s note: Ord. 2390 adds this section as 2.18-9. It has been editorially renumbered to prevent duplication of numbering.

2

Code reviser’s note: Ord. 2315 adds this section as 2.69. It has been editorially renumbered to prevent duplication of numbering.

3

Ordinance 2294 added SPMC 2.69 through 2.72 as Article IVL. Article IVL has been changed to Article IVI to maintain numbering.

Code reviser’s note: Ord. 2326 adds these provisions as SPMC 2.79-1 through 2.79-5. The sections have been editorially renumbered to avoid duplication of numbering.

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