Since its adoption in 1913, the San Bernardino County Charter has been the governing roadmap for the nation’s largest geographical county. Now, county supervisors are proposing a major update to that document which would need to be approved by voters during the November presidential election. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has an overview of the proposed new charter and information about you can weigh in on it…
The last item on tomorrow’s regular meeting agenda of county supervisors at the County Government Center in San Bernardino is a 1 p.m. Power Point overview and discussion of the proposed new County Charter. Highlights of the proposed changes include a provision to allow supervisors more control in filling board vacancies and removing the Governor’s authority to make such appointments. The charter would also authorize a commission to redraw supervisorial districts every 10 years, fix salaries and impose term limits on county supervisors.
Link to Power Point presentation:
Summary of new Charter main points:
If approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday and the voters in November, the new Charter would:
• Allow the Board of Supervisors to call for special elections to fill vacancies in County elected offices and to remove the Governor’s authority to make appointments to fill vacant Supervisor offices
• Require the Board of Supervisors to create a redistricting commission to be involved in the redrawing of the boundaries of supervisorial districts every 10 years
• Protect campaign finance rules and enforcement of those rules
• Limit County supervisors to a total of three four-year terms
• Limit and fix supervisor salaries to 80% of the salary of Superior Court Judges and require public hearings for any effort to change supervisor salaries and benefits
• Require the Board of Supervisors to publicly review County Health Officer orders
• Require the Board to periodically and publicly review the County Code and the Charter for outdated or unnecessary provisions
• Replace gender-specific references to reflect the gender diversity on the Board of Supervisors.
• Require the Board of Supervisors to adopt rules of order for its meetings
Based on guidance from the California Department of Public Health, the Governor’s Executive Order and Office and the San Bernardino County Public Health Officer:
(1) The public may view the Board Meeting live stream at
http://www.sbcounty.gov/Main/Pages/ViewMeetings.aspx
(2) To comment on the proposed new County Charter, another agenda item, or make a general comment prior to the meeting, submit comments via email at [email protected] or online at
http://www.sbcounty.gov/cob/publiccomments/default.aspx
Comments received by 8 a.m. the day of the meeting will be forwarded to the Board members for review and kept with the meeting record.
(3) If you wish to make a comment on the proposed new County Charter, a specific item or a general public comment while watching the live stream, submit comments, limited to 250 words or less, to the Clerk of the Board at
http://www.sbcounty.gov/cob/publiccomments/default.aspx.
All comments received prior to the end of the meeting will be provided to the Board of Supervisors after the meeting and kept with the meeting record.
(4) If attending the meeting in person, facial coverings are required and seating in the board chambers is limited to maintain appropriate social distancing. Additional seating with video and audio of the meeting will be available.
