Tustin Municipal Code Ch. 3 City Council

A. Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the first and third Tuesdays of each calendar month at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Tustin City Hall, 300 Centennial Way, Tustin, California. Closed sessions of the regular meetings shall convene at 4:30 on the same days and at the same location. An alternative time or location for one (1) or more regular meetings, and/or for one (1) or more closed sessions, may be approved by City Council Resolution approved at least seven (7) calendar days prior to the meeting date. When the regular meeting date falls on a legal holiday, the meeting shall be held on the following day that is not a legal holiday.

B. If necessary, closed sessions not completed prior to the open session portion of a regular meeting will be considered at the conclusion of the open session portion of the meeting, or as otherwise determined by the City Council.

C. Nothing in this section limits the authority of the City or the Council to schedule a special meeting, an adjourned regular meeting, a continued regular meeting, or an emergency meeting in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act.

(Ord. No. 735, Sec. 1; Ord. No. 883, Sec. 1, 2-22-83; Ord. No. 1326, Sec. 1, 1-15-07; Ord. No. 1474, Sec. 1, 11-1-16; Ord. No. 1548, Sec. I, 12-3-24)

The proceedings of the City Council shall be governed under "Robert's Rules of Order," or such other rules or regulations as the City Council may adopt or implement on all matters pertaining to parliamentary law, but no ordinance, resolution, proceeding or other action of the council shall be invalidated or the legality thereof otherwise affected by the failure or omission to observe or follow such rules.

(TCC-1, Sec. 2-8; Ord. No. 2, Sec. 10; Ord. No. 1326, Sec. 2, 1-15-07)

Each member of the City Council and the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem shall receive as a monthly salary for his or her services the maximum amount allowed by the population formula set forth in California Government Code section 36516, as that section may be amended from time to time. Pursuant to Government Code section 36516.5, all members of the Council shall be eligible for salary adjustments whenever one or more members of the Council becomes eligible for a salary increase by virtue of the Councilmember beginning a new term of office. Any amounts paid by the City to reimburse actual and necessary expenses shall not be included for purposes of determining salary. Any member of the City Council may waive any or all of the compensation permitted by this section.

(Ord. No. 1511, Sec. II, 12-1-20)

Payment and reimbursement of expenses of councilmembers shall be accorded only as provided by State law or as provided in this section.

(a) Expenses of councilmembers shall be paid or reimbursed pursuant to ordinances and resolutions of the City Council only.

(b) No councilmember shall have authority to obligate the City for any expense, purport to incur any expense on behalf of the City or be entitled to reimbursement for any expense except as prescribed by State law, the Tustin City Code, or both.

(c) No councilmember shall direct the City Manager or any member of City staff to incur any expense on behalf of a councilmember that has not been provided for in the annual City budget.

(d) Expense accounts of the annual City budget shall not be adjusted to include a nonbudgeted City Council expense unless approved by the City Council.

(Ord. No. 745; Ord. No. 1096, Sec. 1, 7-20-92)

a Non-Eligibility of Candidate to Serve as Commissioner

No person shall be appointed to serve or to continue to serve as a member of any commission of the City while that person is serving as a member of the City Council.

b Resignation of Commissioner Council Candidate

Any member of any commission of the City who has been elected to the City Council shall immediately resign from that person's position as commissioner upon certification by the City Council of that person's election results. In the event such resignation is not filed by said commissioner, that person's appointment shall be terminated as of the date of the certification of that member's election results.

(Ord. No. 610; Ord. No. 1434, Sec. II, 5-21-13)

Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.2, the City Attorney is directed to attend each closed session of the City Council and keep and enter into a minute book a record of topics discussed and decisions made at the meeting.

(Ord. No. 1011, 8-15-88; Ord. No. 1243, Sec. 1, 8-20-01)

Note— It should be noted that Section 2 of Ord. No. 1243, adopted Aug. 20, 2001, provided that any tape recordings previously made and retained under prior Section 1306 shall be erased or destroyed.

(a) Findings and Purpose

The people hereby find and declare:

(1) The Founders established a system of representative government based upon free, fair, and competitive elections. The increased concentration of political power in the hands of incumbent representatives has made electoral systems less free, less competitive, and less representative.

(2) The ability of legislators to serve an unlimited number of terms contributes heavily to the extremely high number of incumbents who are reelected. This unfair incumbent advantage discourages qualified candidates from seeking public office and creates a class of career politicians, instead of the citizen representatives envisioned by the Founders. These career politicians become representatives of the bureaucracy, rather than of the people whom they are elected to represent.

(3) The purpose of this section is to ensure a free and democratic system of fair elections, and to encourage qualified candidates to seek public office, by limiting the powers of incumbency, by establishing limitations upon the number of consecutive terms and consecutive years which a person may be elected to serve as Mayor, as a member of the City Council, or any combination thereof.

(b) Limitation on Consecutive Elected Terms: Any person who has served as a member of City Council or in the office of Mayor, or any combination thereof, for three (3) consecutive terms or for twelve (12) consecutive years, whichever is less, shall not be eligible to be elected to the City Council or to the office of Mayor for a period of eight (8) calendar years from the last date of service on the City Council or as Mayor.

(1) If the person's service of the third consecutive term or the twelfth consecutive year ends in December after a general election, that person shall be eligible to run and be elected in the general election in November of the calendar year eight (8) years later. (For example: if a Council member's third term ends upon certification of election results in December 2050, then that person would be eligible to be elected in November 2058 notwithstanding that the election is less than eight (8) full years after the last date of service in 2050.)

(c) Definition of a Term: When a person serves less than a full term as member of the City Council or as Mayor due to appointment, resignation, vacancy, or due to special election to fill a vacancy, such service in office shall be counted toward the limitation on consecutive elected terms if the individual served two (2) or more years (seven hundred twenty-eight (728) days or more) of that term.

(d) Appointment to Fill a Vacancy: This section shall not be construed to prevent a person from being appointed to fill a vacancy on the City Council or in the office of Mayor at any time.

(e) Retroactivity: Pursuant to California Government Code section 36502(b), this section shall apply prospectively only. This section shall apply to the terms of office commencing with the election in November 2024. Terms that are commenced, and years that are served, as members of the City Council or as Mayor prior to November 2024 shall not be included when calculating the number of terms or years served for purposes of this section.

(Ord. No. 1126, Sec. 1, 11-8-94; Ord. No. 1175, Sec. 3, 2-18-97; Ord. No. 1180, Sec. 3, 3-17-97; Ord. No. 1559, Sec. 1, 12-3-24)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Section 1 of Ord. No. 1427, adopted December 4, 2012, repealed in its entirety section 1308 which pertained to benefits of members and derived from Ord. No. 1383, adopted July 6, 2010.

a. Members of the City Council, generally.

Beginning with the November 2022 general municipal election, the City Council shall consist of five (5) members with the Mayor elected at-large and four (4) Council Members elected by-districts.

b. Mayor.

The person elected to serve in the office of Mayor shall be elected by the voters City-wide (at-large). A person is not eligible to hold office as Mayor unless he or she is at the time of seeking nomination or appointment to office an elector of the City. If, during his or her term of office he or she moves his or her place of residence outside of the City limits or ceases to be an elector of the City, his or her office shall immediately become vacant.

c. Council Member (Other than Mayor).

Beginning with the November 2022 general municipal election, a person elected as a member of the City Council other than the Mayor shall be a resident of his or her respective Council District created under subdivision (d), as may be subsequently reapportioned as provided by applicable law, and shall be nominated and elected only by the voters of his or her respective Council District. A person is not eligible to hold office as Council Member unless he or she is at the time of seeking nomination or appointment to office an elector of the City, residing in the District from which he or she is elected or appointed. If, during his or her term of office he or she moves his or her place of residence outside of the District boundaries or ceases to be an elector of the City, his or her office shall immediately become vacant. However, no Council Member shall be deemed to have moved outside of his or her District as a result of District boundary changes which may occur during his or her term of office, and such Council Member shall continue to serve until his or her term is complete or the office otherwise becomes vacant.

d. Council Districts.

1. BOUNDARIES.

Descriptions of the boundaries for each of the four (4) Districts and their numbering are as shown on the attached Exhibit "A" along with a map entitled "City of Tustin District Map," a copy of which shall be on file in the City Clerk's office.

2. TRANSITION.

(a) Nothing herein shall affect the terms of office of the five (5) members of the City Council in office at the time the ordinance codifying this section establishing district elections takes effect, who shall continue in office until their respective terms expire and until their successors are elected and qualified. Recall proceedings, if any, of such City Council members serving the remainder of an at-large elected term and an election of a successor to such City Council member to complete that term, shall be conducted at-large in accordance with applicable law.

(b) The Mayor shall be elected at-large for a term of four (4) years at the general municipal election in November 2022 and at the general municipal election every four (4) years thereafter.

(c) A Council Member shall be elected in Council District 3 at the general municipal election in November 2022 and at the general municipal election every four (4) years thereafter.

(d) Council members shall be elected in Council Districts 1, 2 and 4 at the general municipal election in November 2024 and at the general municipal election every four (4) years thereafter.

3. FUTURE REDISTRICTING.

(a) Future adjustments to the boundaries of the Districts established herein shall be made in accordance with federal and state law applicable to general law cities, including, but not limited to, the provision of California Elections Code § 21600 et seq. requiring the adjustments of the boundaries of any or all of the Districts following each decennial federal census.

(b) Pursuant to Elections Code § 21606, the term of office of any Council Member who has been elected and whose term of office has not expired shall not be affected by any change in the boundaries of the District from which he or she was elected, whether or not that Council Member is a resident within the boundaries of the District as adjusted. At the first election for Council following adjustment of the boundaries of the District, a person meeting the requirements of Government Code § 34882 shall be elected to the City Council for each District under the readjusted District plan that has the same District number as a District whose incumbent's term on the Council is due to expire.

4. ANNEXATIONS.

At the time of any annexation of territory to the City, the City Council shall designate, by resolution adopted by a vote of at least a majority of the City Council, the contiguous District or Districts to which the annexed territory shall be a part and shall amend the District boundaries if necessary in accordance with Elections Code § 21603, as it may be amended from time to time.

(Ord. No. 1518, Sec. I, 11-1-21)