You may have heard that Glendale is moving and it’s time for us to do some house cleaning. There’s no need to panic. The city isn’t going anywhere, but our elections are moving from April of odd numbered years to March of even numbered years. Our lawmakers in Sacramento have been busy recently passing laws that affect how or when we hold our local elections. In 2015, the Legislature passed the California Voter Participation Rights Act (CVPRA) which requires cities with voter turnout rates lower than that of statewide elections to consolidate with the statewide elections. That means that Glendale had to look at our local elections and see if the law applied to us.
A report was presented to Council on November of last year to receive some direction as to how to proceed. Options were presented and Council was given a few choices – to extend terms by 11 months or by 19 months to comply with the state law. Ultimately, they decided to comply with the CVPRA and the California Attorney General Opinion No. 16-603 and move Glendale’s elections from even to odd numbered years but only by extending the terms by 11 months. Council adopted a resolution directing the City Clerk and City Attorney to prepare a proposed Charter Amendment to change the election date of the City’s General Municipal Election to the date of the Statewide Primary Election which was Option A (seen in the table below).
Option A extends the terms for those elected in April 2015 (2 Council seats) by 11 months to coincide with the proposed state-wide Primary election date in March 2020. Also, it extends the terms for those elected in 2017 (3 Council seats, City Clerk, City Treasurer) by 11 months to coincide with the proposed state-wide Primary election date in March 2022.
But even though our Council decide to comply with state law, our Charter will still have language in it that will be in violation of this law. That’s where the housecleaning comes in. Council directed the City Clerk and City Attorney to prepare a proposed ballot measure (MEASURE P) that would amend the City Charter to change the municipal election date for the election of City Officers (City Councilmembers, City Clerk, and City Treasurer) to reflect the state law. Measure P will be on the ballot for the statewide primary election on June 5, 2018 so keep your eyes open and don’t forget to vote on it.
If you have any questions regarding this election or any others, please contact the City Clerk's office at (818) 548-4000.