The Newport Beach City Council on Friday will decide how to handle a court-ordered special election for three resident initiatives on Nov. 3 that is too late to be consolidated with the ballot already going to registered voters in the city.
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Administering its own special election is expected to cost $1 million to $1.5 million, city officials said.
The initiatives, authored by the Newport Beach Stewardship Association, would change term limits, how the councilmembers who represent the city’s seven districts are voted on, and public meetings and records oversight.
Another measure, also authored by the NBSA, regarding the city’s housing element will be on the Nov. 3 ballot as part of the general election being administered by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. That is the ballot where voters will be deciding everything from California’s next governor to local council and school board races.
City leaders challenged in court whether the initiatives had been properly noticed, which a judge has ruled they were. The City Council, by a 5-2 vote last month, then put the housing initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot but scheduled the other three initiatives for the 2028 ballot. Judge Juliane Bancroft said later that was an “abuse of its discretion” and the initiatives qualify and need to appear on this November ballot, even if the city has to hold a special election.
In a last-ditch effort on Wednesday, Sept. 8, Newport Beach City Attorney Aaron Harp asked that the ruling by Bancroft be suspended, after arguing that holding a special city election so soon for the three initiatives would be a difficult and monumental undertaking that even the county, with its election staff, was unwilling to take on. The city also argued that election laws and the city charter require consolidation and don’t allow it to hold a separate election on the same day as a statewide election.
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During the legal wrangling over the last few weeks, NBSA attorneys have argued the city has been spending taxpayer money, including hiring outside counsel, to stall or prevent the resident initiatives from being placed on the ballot so the public could decide, while also now saying the special election that results was too big of an undertaking.
“To put a sharp point on it,” attorney Navi Singh Dhillon wrote in his recent filing, “the city asks the court to believe taxpayer funds are available to block a vote, but not to facilitate one.”
The Court of Appeals in the 4th Appellate District rejected both of the city’s appeals this week.
On Friday, the council will confirm its acceptance of the OC Registrar of Voters’ certification of signatures for each of the three initiatives. It will also decide whether to submit an argument against any one of the three initiatives and, if so, designate three councilmembers for that effort and authorize a special election. It will also need to direct the city attorney to provide an impartial analysis and written arguments for and against the initiatives.
Additionally, the council will decide whether to ask the OC Board of Supervisors to authorize county officials to provide election services. The council will also discuss the costs of holding the special election and authorize staff to prepare a budget with sufficient funds.
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The City Council meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the council chambers.