BOARD OF SUPERVISOR'S

Informational report on filing of notice of intention to circulate initiative measure amending the 2035 San Benito County General Plan, timeline for circulation, submission of petition, verification of signatures, decisions for Board of Supervisors upon validation, and probable election schedule. Provide direction to staff on preparation of fiscal impact report. Authorize CAO to select and contract with qualified consulting firm to prepare updated revised Elections Code section 9111 Report for an amount not to exceed $75,000.00. 

SBC FILE NUMBER: 285

On January 31, 2022, five proponents of an initiative measure to amend the 2035 San Benito County General Plan submitted a notice of intent to circulate an initiative petition, together with the full text of the proposed initiative. The January 31 documents were withdrawn and a revised set submitted on February 18, 2022. The measure is substantially the same as a prior general plan initiative filed in 2020, but for which signed petitions were not submitted within 180 days of filing allowed by law.

On February 23, 2022, County Counsel provided the initiative proponents with a ballot title and summary as required by Elections Code 9105. The proponents can begin collecting signatures after publishing the ballot title and summary with the notice of intent to circulate the petition, which is anticipated to begin on March 4, 2022.

At least 2,060 valid signatures of voters registered in San Benito County must be submitted within 180 days in order for the measure to qualify for the ballot. The Elections Office has 30 working days from submission of the signed petitions to validate the signatures and certify its sufficiency.

The deadline to qualify a measure for the June 7, 2022 primary election is March 11, 2022, so it is not possible that the petition would be submitted and certified to the Board of Supervisors in time for the measure to be place on the June primary ballot.

Once the petition is certified as sufficient, the Board of Supervisors has several options:

1) It can adopt the measure as proposed;

2) It can defer action for up to 30 days to order and receive an Elections Code section 9111 Report on the fiscal and other impacts of the measure;

3) After receiving and reviewing the section 9111 report, the Board of Supervisors can adopt the measure or place it on the ballot for the next regularly scheduled county general election, which in this case would likely be November 8, 2022.

The Board of Supervisors has the option to order the preparation of an Elections Code section 9111 Report at any time after the proponents have begun circulation of the petition for signatures.

A copy of the Elections Code section 9111 Report for the previous substantially similar general plan initiative measure is attached for reference. A revised and updated report would need to be prepared for the current proposed measure if the Board of Supervisors elects to order a report. The cost of the 2020 Report was approximately $80,000.00. It is anticipated that a revision and update could be completed for substantially less.

If and when directed to do so, staff will solicit professional consultants for bids to prepare an updated Elections Code section 9111 report on the fiscal, planning and other potential impacts of the proposed measure.