SECTIONS 9235-9247 - California Statutes

ELECTIONS CODE

SECTION 9235-9247

9235. No ordinance shall become effective until 30 days from and
after the date of its final passage, except:
(a) An ordinance calling or otherwise relating to an election.
(b) An ordinance for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, or safety that contains a declaration of, and the
facts constituting, its urgency and is passed by a four-fifths vote
of the city council.
(c) Ordinances relating to street improvement proceedings.
(d) Other ordinances governed by particular provisions of state
law prescribing the manner of their passage and adoption.

9236. (a) Notwithstanding Section 9235, ordinances authorizing the
issuance of revenue bonds by a city as part of a joint powers entity
pursuant to Section 6547 of the Government Code shall not take effect
for 60 days.
(b) When the number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor
at the last gubernatorial election within the boundaries of the city
described in subdivision (a) exceeds 500,000, the ordinance is
subject to referendum upon presentation of a petition bearing
signatures of at least 5 percent of the entire vote cast within the
boundaries of the city for all candidates for Governor at the last
gubernatorial election. When the number of votes cast for all
candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial election within the
boundaries of the city is less than 500,000, the ordinance is
subject to referendum upon presentation of a petition bearing
signatures of at least 10 percent of the entire vote cast within the
boundaries of the city for all candidates for Governor at the last
gubernatorial election.
(c) For the purpose of submitting the question to the voters
pursuant to subdivision (b), the ballot wording shall approximate the
following:

"Shall the ___________________,
(county name)
as a member of the _______________,
(joint powers
entity name)
authorize the issuance of revenue bonds by the joint powers entity
in the amount of $____ pursuant to ordinance number ____, dated ____,
the bonds to be used for the following purposes and to be redeemed
in the following manner: ________ "

9237. If a petition protesting the adoption of an ordinance, and
circulated by a person who is a registered voter or who is qualified
to be a registered voter of the city, is submitted to the elections
official of the legislative body of the city in his or her office
during normal office hours, as posted, within 30 days of the date the
adopted ordinance is attested by the city clerk or secretary to the
legislative body, and is signed by not less than 10 percent of the
voters of the city according to the county elections official's last
official report of registration to the Secretary of State, or, in a
city with 1,000 or less registered voters, is signed by not less than
25 percent of the voters or 100 voters of the city, whichever is the
lesser, the effective date of the ordinance shall be suspended and
the legislative body shall reconsider the ordinance.

9237.5. The provisions of this code relating to the form of
petitions, the duties of the county elections official, and the
manner of holding elections shall govern the petition procedure and
submission of the ordinance to the voters.

9238. (a) Across the top of each page of the referendum petition
there shall be printed the following:
"Referendum Against an Ordinance Passed by the City
Council"
(b) Each section of the referendum petition shall contain (1) the
identifying number or title, and (2) the text of the ordinance or the
portion of the ordinance that is the subject of the referendum.
The petition sections shall be designed in the same form as
specified in Section 9020.
(c) Each section shall have attached thereto the declaration of
the person soliciting the signatures. This declaration shall be
substantially in the same form as set forth in Section 9022, except
that the declaration shall declare that the circulator is a voter or
is qualified to register as a voter of the city, and shall state his
or her residence address at the time of the execution of the
declaration.

9239. Petitions shall be accepted for filing by the elections
official and the determination of the number of signatures thereon
shall be made by the elections official in accordance with Section
9210. Petitions shall be filed with the elections official of the
legislative body of the city in his or her office during normal
office hours, as posted.

9240. After the petition has been filed as herein provided, the
elections official shall examine the petition and certify the results
in the same manner as are county petitions in Sections 9114 and 9115
except that, for the purposes of this section, references to the
board of supervisors shall be treated as references to the
legislative body of the city.

9241. If the legislative body does not entirely repeal the
ordinance against which the petition is filed, the legislative body
shall submit the ordinance to the voters, either at the next regular
municipal election occurring not less than 88 days after the order of
the legislative body, or at a special election called for the
purpose, not less than 88 days after the order of the legislative
body. The ordinance shall not become effective until a majority of
the voters voting on the ordinance vote in favor of it. If the
legislative body repeals the ordinance or submits the ordinance to
the voters, and a majority of the voters voting on the ordinance do
not vote in favor of it, the ordinance shall not again be enacted by
the legislative body for a period of one year after the date of its
repeal by the legislative body or disapproval by the voters.

9242. Signatures upon petitions, and sections thereof, shall be
secured, and the petition, together with all sections thereof, shall
be filed, within 30 days from the date of the adoption of the
ordinance to which it relates. Petitions and sections thereof shall
be filed with the elections official of the legislative body of the
city in his or her office during normal office hours as posted.
Petitions which are not filed within the time permitted by this
section shall be void for all purposes.

9243. Elections pursuant to this article shall be held in
accordance with Sections 9217 to 9225, inclusive.

9244. Whenever the legislative body of a city has voted in favor of
the repeal of an ordinance protested against by the voters, as
provided in this article, and the mayor, or like officer, has vetoed
the repeal, the failure of the legislative body to pass the repeal
over the veto shall be deemed a refusal to repeal the ordinance.

9245. If approval of an ordinance by the mayor or like officer is
necessary, the date of approval shall be deemed the date of its final
passage by the legislative body within the meaning of this article.
If an ordinance becomes law when the time for approval or veto has
expired, and no action has been taken, the date of the expiration of
that time shall be deemed the date of its final passage by the
legislative body within the meaning of this article.

9246. Any duty imposed in this chapter upon the legislative body of
a city with regard to calling a municipal election, or in connection
with an election called pursuant to this chapter, is likewise
imposed upon any officer having any duty to perform connected with
the election, so far as may be necessary to carry out this chapter.

9247. Article 1 (commencing with Section 9200) and this article do
not apply to cities having a charter adopted under Section 3 of
Article XI of the California Constitution, and having in their
charters any provision for the direct initiation of ordinances by the
voters; nor to proceedings had for the improvement of streets in or
rights-of-way owned by cities, the opening or closing of streets, the
changing of grades or the doing of other work, the cost of which, or
any portion of the cost which is to be borne by special assessments
upon real property.