Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
City attorney warns CVRA risk as council begins community review of directly elected mayor
Loading...
Summary
Palm Springs' council's ad-hoc subcommittee launched community outreach on a proposal for a directly elected mayor; City Attorney Jeff Ballinger told council a nonvoting citywide mayor would likely reduce, but not eliminate, litigation risk under the California Voting Rights Act.
Mayor Sotto opened a discussion on the ad-hoc subcommittee's work Thursday as the council considered whether to pursue public outreach and studies on a directly elected mayor.
The subcommittee's initial recommendation was procedural: form a working group with representation from each district and subject-matter experts to hold public meetings and gather community guidance before drafting specific ballot language. "We should have someone from each of the districts, and then we should have some people that maybe have some expertise," Council member Garner said during the report-back.
City Attorney Jeff Ballinger briefed the council on legal exposure tied to the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). Ballinger said a directly elected mayor with voting power creates the greatest potential CVRA liability, while a directly elected mayor without voting power "would probably significantly reduce that potential CVRA liability." He added that such legal analyses are rarely categorical and that a demographic study would help the city assess risk under either scenario.
Council members probed practical consequences, including whether the council or staff could delay an election if the measure and candidate filings were concurrent and how a nonvoting mayor would interact with council processes. "A nonvoting mayor would still have a bully pulpit," Ballinger said; "they'd be elected by the whole city and that platform can carry influence even if they can't vote."
Opponents of an immediate campaign timetable raised concerns about fairness and cost. Council member Bernstein said having candidates run for an office that might not exist after a ballot measure "seems like bad governance" and warned it could advantage wealthier candidates willing to shoulder the financial risk of a simultaneous campaign.
No ordinance or vote was taken. Councilmembers approved forming a public working group and asked staff to post documents and provide follow-up materials (including estimated costs for a demographer and a list of municipal code sections that mention the mayor) to inform subsequent meetings. The subcommittee emphasized that community feedback would guide whether a ballot measure should be drafted and how a mayoral office would be structured.
Next steps: staff will compile a memo of costs and legal considerations and the subcommittee will schedule working-group meetings; the city's clerk's CVRA web page will host relevant documents and prior settlement materials.
