REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
AND RECORD OF ACTION
April 7, 2020
FROM
BOB PAGE, Registrar of Voters, Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT
Title v
Certification of Initiative Petition Regarding Repeal of Special Tax for San Bernardino County Fire Protection District Service Zone FP-5
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Acting as the governing body of the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, accept the Certification of Initiative Petition dated March 25, 2020 with respect to the initiative petition entitled “Initiative to Repeal the Special Tax Associated with Fire Protection Service Zone Five” that was filed with the Registrar of Voters on February 11, 2020.
(Presenter: Bob Page, Registrar of Voters, 387-2100)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Pursuant to County Code section 16.0224(d) of the County Fee Ordinance, the Registrar of Voters (ROV) will bill the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District (SBCFPD) for all costs plus overhead related to the examination of signatures and certification of this initiative petition, which is estimated will cost about $10,000. Appropriation for the minimal staffing required to present the Certification of Initiative Petition was included in ROV’s 2019-20 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ROV has determined that the proponents of the initiative petition entitled “Initiative to Repeal the Special Tax Associated with Fire Protection Service Zone Five” collected more than a sufficient number of valid registered voter signatures within the prescribed time period to qualify the initiative for adoption or for placement on an election ballot for consideration of the voters of SBCFPD.
A separate agenda item will be presented to the SBCFPD Board of Directors (Board) today by the Fire Chief/Fire Warden and the Chief Executive Officer to consider the two above-mentioned options provided for by Elections Code section 9310.
On August 16, 2019, proof of publication of the intent to circulate the initiative petition and the statement of reasons for the proposed petition were submitted to ROV by three proponents - Charles Pruitt, Richard R. Sayers II, and David Jarvi - in compliance with District Elections provisions of Elections Code section 9304. ROV is the elections official for SBCFPD.
On February 11, 2020, the proponents submitted the initiative petition to ROV containing 32,017 signatures, which was within the 180 days provided to collect signatures from registered voters residing within SBCFPD. For ROV to declare the petition sufficient, 8,110 valid signatures were required pursuant to Proposition 218, Article XIII C, section 3, of the California Constitution. In the November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election, 162,193 SBCFPD voters voted for one of the two candidates for Governor. Pursuant to the requirement of Prop 218, signatures from 5% of voters is required in order to meet the signature requirement.
Pursuant to the authority provided in Elections Code section 9309, ROV examined a random 3 percent sample of the signatures on the initiative petition. Further, pursuant to section 9309(a), ROV was required to complete its random sample examination of petition signatures within 30 business days from the date of filing, which set the deadline at March 25, 2020. ROV followed the administrative requirements of the California Code of Regulations sections 20510 through 20540 Election Petition Signature Verification Random Sampling Verification Methodology to project that the petition contained 17,114 verified valid signatures, which is equal to 211 percent of the required number.
Registrar of Voters Bob Page executed the Certificate of Initiative Petition on March 25, 2020 and notified the proponents of the sufficiency of the petition. Pursuant to Elections Code section 9309(f), Mr. Page is required to present the Certificate of Initiative Petition to the Board at its next regular meeting.
PROCUREMENT
Not Applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Penny Alexander-Kelley, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-4270) on March 10, 2020; Finance (Elias Duenas, Finance Analyst, 387-4052) on March 15, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on March 17, 2020.