EMPOWER SAN DIEGO

The Passage of Proposition D

In November 2004 a five-year trial of the Strong Mayor system of government was approved by voters and initiated on January 1, 2006. Previously, a City Manager form of government made decisions regarding the City of San Diego. In the City manager form, the City Council held more power with a mayor whose role resembled that of a CEO on a board of directors.

With the passage of Proposition D in the June 2010 Primary, the Strong Mayor form of government became permanent. As a result, a ninth council district--with an estimated cost of $1-1.5 million per year--has been established. Each district will allocate 18,000
people to the newly created ninth, and all district boundaries will be redrawn. With the use of collected 2010 Census data, a citizen Redistricting Commission will redraw the district boundaries of San Diego.

Gloria Penner, host of KPBS program San Diego Week, discusses the passage of Proposition D with senior metro reporter Alison St John

Opinion piece from 2010:

Strong Mayor/Strong Council Form of Governance

The current form of city government is literally on “trial.” 

In June 2010, voters will decide by special ballot whether to continue the current form of government, which gives the Mayor the duties previously assigned to the City Manager and removes her or him from the City Council.  Most simply, the public vote will decide these three things:

1) Shall the “Strong Mayor” Form of Government remain permanent?  (And shall the City Charter be reformed to reflect this?)

2) If yes, shall the City Council add a 9^th district (to compensate for the loss of the Mayor and provide an odd number of council members, which facilitates majority voting)?

3) If yes, shall the City Charter be amended to require that the Council produce a two-thirds majority to override Mayoral decisions?

More than merely a tidy separation of legislative and executive powers, as some continue to argue, rather this decision requires the public to understand, analyze and vote on a complex nexus of issues that continue to baffle and perplex city officials as they attempt to gather the information necessary to educate themselves and then the public.

When City Council re-opened this conversation, Empower San Diego board member Quiroz spoke during public comment and pointed out that the ballot initiative’s title communicates a bias that should be avoided when producing an impartial analysis.  That is, continuing to refer to the “Strong Mayor” Form of Government leaves voters to assume that a weak form of government is the alternative.  The City Council’s current preparatory actions focus on how to make the necessary changes to accommodate this form of government, rather than a balanced approach, such as budgetary and legal analyses that explore what might occur should voters decide that the trial form of government fails to adequately address the problems that precipitated it.

On October 28, when this “information item” was discussed, the representative from the city attorney’s office insisted that the “Strong Mayor” wording should be retained to avoid confusing voters.   The remaining legal analysis focused primarily on the preferred nature of revisions to the Charter—either a short version amending Article 15 or an “interlineated” version that would distribute changes throughout the document.  Some emphasis also was placed on the presentation of the ballot and the scheduling of future ballots to approve the amendments. 

During the discussion, Councilmember Gloria emphasized that the “Strong Mayor” wording fails to represent the legislative and executive branches as “co-equal” branches of government, and that previous information gathering and assessments should be consulted.  Councilmember Frye concurred that a rigorous analysis would investigate how the reassigning of powers reflected an intention to balance legislative and executive powers.  Councilmember Faulconer attempted to historicize the trial form of government in terms of creating more accountability in city government by assigning executive powers to an elected official, namely the Mayor, rather than to an unelected official, namely the City Manager.

The deadline for preparing the ballot is in late February, and the ballot will be subject to the vote in June 2010.  A host of questions remain.

Will voters receive balanced, unbiased and timely information?  What are the alternatives to “Strong Mayor”?  What is the plan for providing that information?

by Annie Lorrie Anderson-Lazo, Ph.D.