REPORT TO GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS COMMITTEE
SUBJECT
Title
Discussion and Request for Direction on a Comprehensive City Charter Update Process for Presentation to the City Council (DEFERRED FROM MARCH 3, 2025)
Report
BACKGROUND
The Santa Clara City Charter ("City Charter") operates like the City of Santa Clara's constitution. The City Charter can only be adopted, amended, or repealed by a majority vote of the City's voters.
Since its adoption in 1951, the City Charter has been amended multiple times, most recently in 2022. For the most part, such amendments have been piecemeal, targeting just one or two areas, most commonly the rules for elected officials. There was one comprehensive Charter update that was proposed and passed back in 2000, but the changes were relatively minor, and there has been no comprehensive update since that date.
Since 1952, a lot has changed in the laws that apply to cities and in what are considered "best practices" for how city governments operate. The City itself has also grown and changed. City staff's experience with implementing the Charter over the years has also revealed inefficiencies and ambiguities in existing City Charter provisions.
In order to make the City Charter consistent with current laws and best practices, improve City efficiency and eliminate ambiguities, City staff is proposing that the City consider engaging in a comprehensive Charter update process for presentation to the City's voters in 2026. This item presents this proposal to the Governance and Ethics Committee for your input and recommendation.
DISCUSSION
The City Charter in General
The City Charter acts like the "constitution" for the City of Santa Clara. In general, the City Charter establishes the City's authority over "municipal affairs," provides for a Council/Manager form of government, provides the qualifications and process for electing and appointing certain City officials, assigns duties among those officials, sets up the process for Ci...
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