PG Council approves next steps to place smaller council measure on ballot – Monterey Herald

PACIFIC GROVE >> The Pacific Grove City Council voted 4-2 this week to direct the city manager to return to council with the necessary documents to place a measure on the ballot in November reducing the council seats from six to four members.

Councilmen Joe Amelio and Chaps Poduri voted against the measure. Councilwoman Debby Beck was absent.

The next steps will be for the city manager to hire a demographer, who will study the 2020 census and create a report on the city’s population including racial and ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic characteristics.

The demographer’s report will also help the council determine if they should vote to transition the city into using a by-district election system.

Currently in Pacific Grove, the at-large system means that city voters can cast a ballot for any and all open council member seats. A by-district system, would separate the city into districts and voters would select from candidates running for a seat in their district.

In Wednesday’s agenda, Interim City Manager Robert Perrault said a smaller council would be more practical if voters choose a by-district system. He also recommended that the mayor continue to be voted at-large per usual.

This ongoing discussion stemmed from a letter sent to council by the League of United Latin American Citizens in August 2022, requesting the city change its at-large voting system to a by-district voting system for city elections in order to be in line with the California Voting Rights Act. If the city fails to take action, the citizens group threatened to take legal action and seek judicial assistance “to enforce our remedies at law,” the letter read.

Additionally, if the city chooses to keep its at-large election system and defend itself against a threatened lawsuit, it could cost several million dollars in attorney’s fees and court costs.

Pacific Grove residents had the opportunity to lower the number of council members to four in the 2022 election, but the measure lost by 13 votes.

Amelio said he believed there were more opportunities for citizens to serve on the council on a seven-member council noting that it has existed for 95 years. He said that the costs to add a measure to the ballot were not worth it.

“I believe we need to stick with the six-member council it’s better representative of our population,” Amelio said. “(Also,) the demographer is important, I want to make sure that goes through.”

Poduri said the measure should not be brought back to voters at all, especially if they already voted on it in 2022, and agreed with Amelio’s sentiment that it was costly.

“We’re not moving on, why are we bringing this back if in 2022 the voters made the decision not to have it?” Poduri said.

City staff clarified that placing a measure on the ballot wasn’t a significant cost, and elections offices typically only give estimates in price per ballot to each registered voter.

The other council members were in support of the measure, saying it would shorten meeting times and ultimately voters would decide on the number of seats and if they should have districts.

“I still support it now, mostly on a common sense argument. We’re a great outlier with seven council members, and it’ll be a service to our residents to have a shorter meeting,” said Mayor Pro Tem Nick Smith.

On another item, the council voted 4-2 to discontinue the planning for a temporary skatepark in the city hall parking lot. Council members Amelio and Poduri voted for the project.

The next regular council meeting is at 6 p.m. April 3 at Pacific Grove City Hall, 300 Forest Ave. The meeting will also be live-streamed via Zoom at cityofpacificgrove.org/Zoom_CC.

 

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