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Stockton City Council authorizes filing argument opposing Measure N, designates up to five signers
Summary
The Stockton City Council voted 6-0 on July 26 to adopt a resolution authorizing the city to submit an argument against Measure N to the county ballot pamphlet and to identify up to five signers for that statement, with staff to collect names for submission.
The Stockton City Council voted 6-0 on July 26, 2024, to approve a resolution authorizing the city to submit an argument opposing Measure N and to designate up to five signers for the statement that will appear in the county ballot pamphlet.
The measure, a charter amendment set for the November ballot, would change how bargaining impasses in public-safety labor negotiations are resolved. Rosemary Rivas, the city’s director of human resources, introduced the item and turned procedural questions to outside counsel Stephen Miller of the law firm Hansen Bridget, who explained that state law allows a city council to adopt a position on a local ballot measure and to submit an authored statement for the voter pamphlet.
“Before you, in addition to considering the resolution, you’re being asked to authorize the submittal of those ballot statements, and identify up to 5 people who will sign that in the ballot pamphlet itself,” Miller said, explaining the mechanics and the county registrar’s rule limiting signed authors to five.
Council members asked whether signers had to be council members; Miller and staff said signers could be between one and five individuals and need not all be council members, and that the city manager could be designated as a signer if the council chose. One council member said multiple signers “looks better for the city,” and three council members volunteered to sign; staff said they would collect the physical signatures over the weekend.
A motion to adopt the resolution and authorize the identification of signers passed on a roll-call vote. The clerk recorded the motion as passing 6-0. The council did not adopt any substantive changes to city policy at the meeting; the action was limited to authorizing the city’s opposition argument and signer identification for the ballot pamphlet.
The next procedural step is for staff to submit the prepared statement and the identified signers to the county registrar by the registrar’s deadline for the November ballot materials.
