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Home My WebLink AboutCity Council Member Item 19- 05-12-2014 - City Council MeetiCITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH City Council Interoffice Communication To: Honorable Mayor Pro Tern and City Council Members From: Matthew Harper, Mayor Date: May 12, 2014 Subject: City Council Member Item for the May 19, 2014, City Council Meeting — Directly Elected Mayor STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Huntington Beach remains one of the larger cities within California without a mayor that is directly elected by the voters. For decades, Huntington Beach has been one of the five largest cities by population within Orange County. All four of the other top -five cities have mayors directly elected by the voters of their respective cities: Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine and Garden Grove. Even neighboring Westminster, which has about half the population of Huntington Beach, has a directly elected mayor. According to the City Clerk, the voters have not had the opportunity to separately vote on whether or not to have a directly elected mayor since the early 1960s, well over a generation ago. If the City Council agrees that the current generation of voters of Huntington Beach should be given a choice of whether or not to have a directly elected Mayor, then the City Attorney should draft a proposed Charter Amendment for consideration to be placed on the November 4, 2014, General Election as a proposed ballot measure. RECOMMENDED ACTION: I would recommend the voters be allowed to directly elect a mayor every four years during the California Gubernatorial General Election, the current election cycle where four City Council Members are elected. The remaining six City Council Members would be elected in alternating top -three elections each California General Election. The Mayor Pro Tempore would still be chosen from among the City Council Members each year during the organizational meeting. I would recommend the first election for the voters to chose the Mayor of Huntington Beach be in 2018, the next California Gubernatorial General Election. xc: Fred Wilson, City Manager Ken Domer, Assistant City Manager Joan Flynn, City Clerk Jennifer McGrath, City Attorney odes, } Vj y� , 4, U9� ((OM0,410 46saW7-)