Petition Concept for Term Limits

Lompoc Term Limits Act

The people of the City of Lompoc do ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. TITLE.
This initiative shall be known and may be cited as the “Lompoc Term Limits Act”

SECTION 2. Findings and Declarations.
The people of the City of Lompoc (“City”) find and declare all of the following:
a) Currently there is no limit on the number of terms a city council member or city mayor may serve;
b) Section 36502(b) of the Government Code authorizes the residents of a city to propose to limit the terms a member of the city council may serve on the council and the of terms an elected mayor may serve;
c) With Term limits in place, elected officials will be more responsible toward constituents because they will soon be constituents themselves, and will have to live under the laws they created while in office.
d) With term limits in place, there will be more opportunities for the community to develop new leaders who will bring fresh idea to city hall;
e) With term limits in place, candidates will be more likely to run for the purpose of serving the people, and they would have to leave office before corruption dominates their decisions.

SECTION 3. Purpose and Intent.
The people of the City of Lompoc herby declare their purposes and intent in enacting this measure to be as follows:
a) To limit the mayor and other members of the city council from serving more than two consecutive full terms;
b) To apply such limits on a prospective basis; and
c) To allow elected officials who become ineligible to serve due to term limits to become eligible again after a two-year break in service.

SECTION 4. Lompoc Term Limits Act.
a) Addition of Section 2.06.040 (“b)
a. Any person who has served in elective or appointed City office for two (2), consecutive full or partial terms, shall be ineligible to be seated or appointed to an elective City office until two (2) consecutive years has lapsed since the person last held City office
b. For the purpose of this section:
i. The phrase “City office” means Mayor and City Council Member.
ii. Any persons who either, by appointment or election, serves more than 30 days of a term in elective City office, shall be deemed to have served a full term.
iii. Notwithstanding subsection (ii), a person who resigns or is removed from elective City office any time during a term, other than to assume a different elective City office, shall be deemed to have served a full term.
iv. This section shall not impose an absolute limit on the number of terms a person may serve in their lifetime, but only imposes a limit on the number of consecutive years a person may serve in any combination of elective City offices.

SECTION 5. Interpretation.
To the fullest extent allowed by the law, the provisions of this Initiative shall prevail over, and supersede, all other provisions of the Municipal Code and any other ordinances, resolutions, or administrative policies of the City of Lompoc, including those adopted by the electors, that are in conflict with any provisions of this Initiative.

SECTION 6. Implementation.
a) This Initiative shall apply prospectively only to any term of office commencing on or after 2020.

SECTION 7. Proponent Standing.
The People of the City of Lompoc declare that the proponent(s) of this measure has a direct and personal stake in defending this measure and grant formal authority to the proponent to defend this measure in any legal proceeding, either by intervening in such a legal proceeding, or by defending the measure on behalf of the people and the City in the event that the City declines to defend the measure or declines to appeal an adverse judgment against the measure.

In the event that the proponent is defending this measure in a legal proceeding because the City has declined to defend it or to appeal an adverse judgment against it, the proponent shall: act as an agent of the people and the City; be subject to all ethical, legal, and fiduciary duties applicable to such parties in such a legal proceedings; and be entitled to recover legal fees and related costs directly from the city.

SECTION 8. Severability.
If any portion of this Initiative is declared invalid by a court of law or other legal body with applicable authority, the invalidity shall not affect or prohibit the force and effect of any other provision or application of the Initiative that is not deemed invalid. The voters of the city hereby declare that they would have circulated for qualification and/or voted for the adoption of this Initiative, and each portion thereof, regardless of the fact that any portion of the Initiative may be subsequently deemed invalid.