For the first time in more than two decades, Santa Clara will undergo a comprehensive review of its city charter that could result in a November 2026 ballot measure.
Santa Clara adopted its charter — a governing document that acts as a rulebook for how the city operates — in 1951, and has made several amendments to it over the years. The most recent was in 2022 after voters approved a measure to align the charter with a previous decision to switch from electing councilmembers at-large to by geographic district.
At a Tuesday evening city council meeting, City Attorney Glen Googins said that most changes over the years have been minor, with the last “comprehensive” amendment being adopted in 2000. Since then, he said, a lot has changed legally.
“The idea of this is to focus on the workings of government, to add clarity, modernity and consistency with best practices,” he said. “It’s not intended to advance political objectives or to change things so fundamentally that they would create potentially problems out in the community.”
The council voted 6-1 to establish a charter review commission to consider what changes might need to be made, and subsequently approved by voters next November. The commission will be comprise of 13 individuals, with each councilmember selecting one member from their district and the mayor appointing someone at-large. The remaining six commissioners will be appointed using a lottery system with one chosen from each district.
Councilmember Kevin Park cast the dissenting vote.
Googins, who helped guide the charter review process at his last job for the city of Chula Vista, suggested a number of items the commission should look at, including clarifying the responsibilities of the elected city clerk, increasing the dollar threshold for public work contracts that need council approval and updating the provisions for the budget cycle from a one-year budget to two, which the city currently uses.
Councilmember Suds Jain said that a review of the city charter is “way past due.”
“A number of these measures would actually save the city quite a bit of money in terms of revising our procurement processes and the noticing you have to do to sell surplus property or engage in public works contract,” he said.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor said that while “we all want to save money,” taking away transparency in some contracting decisions could raise concerns from the community.
“I think that any sort of issues that maybe expand contracting authority would need to have transparency enhancements with them, as well,” she said.
Vice Mayor Kelly Cox, who ultimately voted in favor of establishing a charter review commission, raised concerns about the timing with the city deep into planning for Super Bowl LX in February and the FIFA World Cup next summer at Levi’s Stadium.
“When we talk about the overburdening of our staff right now, I’m wondering in light of our current priorities how this fits in particularly pertaining to major events,” she said. “I guess really the question is, is it the right time to do something like this?”
