Subcommittee to discuss potential review of City Charter

The Culver City Governance Subcommittee will consider recommending a comprehensive review of the Culver City Charter at its meeting on Wednesday, September 2 at 4 p.m. in the Dan Patacchia Room at Culver City’s City Hall. If recommended by the Subcommittee and approved by City Council, it would be the first time a complete review of the city charter is conducted since 2005.

A partial review of the City Charter — the foundational legal document that serves as the city’s constitution — was conducted in 2016, leading to three changes being placed before voters in a special election held in November 2016. Two of these changes were approved by Culver City voters: making councilmembers who resign from their positions ineligible to run for reelection for two years and giving the City Council the authority to set the dates for its Regular Meetings.

In 2005, the City Council created a Charter Review Committee to conduct a complete review of the city's guiding document. The changes recommended by this ten-person committee were extensive, with the city noting that election costs were abnormal for the 2006 Election due in part to the size of the charter amendment, which was held under a single ballot measure unlike in 2016.

The ballot text for 2006’s Measure V was 32 pages in length when printed in the Sample Ballot as mandated by law.

Measure V passed with a 54% approval rating in the 2006 Election, implementing changes to the city charter that helped Culver City transition into the “Council-Manager” form of government that the city has operated with since. While many of the changes were technical and did not materially impact the city’s operations, some did make structural changes to how the city functions, including:

• Giving the City Council the power to establish and restructure Commissions by ordinance
• Turning the City Treasurer (Now Chief Financial Officer) from an elected position to one appointed by the City Manager
• Establishing the City Council’s authority to order elections be held entirely by mail
• Requiring Compensation and benefits paid to council members to be disclosed
• No longer automatically awarding Public Work Contracts over $25,000 to the lowest responsible bidder

These recommendations came as the result of a year of work by the Committee, a ten-member body comprised of engaged Culver City residents that reflected the city’s diversity. This list includes 2013 Mayor Andrew Weissman and 2019 Mayor Ed Wolkowitz — who currently serves as the Chair and Immediate Past Chair for the Culver City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors — former Culver City Unified School District Board of Education President Robert G. Knopf, and former Culver City Arts Commission Chair Miriam (Mim) Shapiro.

This committee deliberated from September 2005 to September 2006, presenting their findings to then-Mayor Albert Vera Sr. Measure V also added a requirement into the city charter that the City Council should consider the need for a Charter Review Committee every 10 years.

Vice Mayor Bubba Fish — who serves on the Governance Subcommittee alongside Councilmember Yasmine-Imani McMorrin — pointed out in his proposal to begin these discussions made at the July 27 City Council meeting.

“There are a lot of opportunities to enhance our democratic processes,” Fish said of a city charter review.

To read the full Culver City Charter, click here. Review the 2006 Charter Review Committee Report here.