City Attorney's Office City of*

R1b

Governing entities within Santa Clara County should voluntarily submit their ballot questions to the County Counsel for review prior to submission to the Registrar of Voters, unless and until

R1c

Governing entities within Santa Clara County should, by March 31, 2023, adopt their own resolution or ordinance to require submission of their ballot questions to the County Counsel for review prior to submission to the Registrar of Voters, unless and until Recommendations 1d and 1e are implemented. . . . City of Mountain View Response to 2022 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report December 13, 2022 City of Mountain View Response to

R1d

is implemented. City of Mountain View Response to Recommendation 1b: This recommendation is not warranted and, therefore, will not be implemented by the City of Mountain View. Empowering County Counsel to review City of Mountain View ballot questions prior to submission to the Registrar of Voters would improperly infringe on Mountain View's constitutional right, as a charter city, to provide for the conduct of city elections and would delegate control over a quintessentially municipal affair to an official that is not accountable to Mountain View City Council or its electorate. The conduct of city elections is one of the few specifically enumerated core areas of autonomy for home-rule cities. See Cobb v. O'Connell, 134 Cal. App. 4th 91 (2005). In addition, the City Attorney for the City of Mountain View reviews Mountain View ballot questions to ensure compliance with state law requirements and there is no evidence that County Counsel is more qualified or better suited to do so. The Civil Grand Jury states, "an objective, neutral third party is needed to speak on behalf of the voting public", and, ideally, it would be someone who is "well versed in the law, has a fiduciary duty to uphold the law, and has taken an oath to act with integrity". The Mountain View City Charter provides for the appointment of a City Attorney and empowers the City Attorney to among other things, "... advise the council and all city officers in all matters of law ...". A City Attorney, like County Counsel, is generally well-versed in the law, and all California barred attorneys take the same oath of office which requires them to faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney and always conduct themselves with integrity. Therefore, empowering County Counsel to perform a duty that is already performed by Mountain View's City Attorney is unwarranted. Civil Grand Jury Recommendation 1c: Governing entities within Santa Clara County should, by March 31, 2023, adopt their own resolution or ordinance to require submission of their ballot questions to the County Counsel for review prior to submission to the Registrar of Voters, unless and until Recommendations 1d and 1e are implemented. . . . City of Mountain View Response to 2022 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report December 13, 2022 City of Mountain View Response to Recommendation 1c: This recommendation is not warranted and, therefore, will not be implemented by the City of Mountain View. For all the reasons stated in response to Recommendation 1b, empowering County Counsel to perform a duty that is already performed by Mountain View's City Attorney is unwarranted. Civil Grand Jury Recommendation 1e: Governing entities within Santa Clara County should submit their ballot questions for review by the Good Governance in Ballots Commission pursuant to Recommendation 1d. City of Mountain View Response to Recommendation 1e: This recommendation is not warranted and, therefore, will not be implemented by the City of Mountain View. As noted above, the conduct of city elections is one of the few specifically enumerated core areas of autonomy for home-rule cities, and the Mountain View City Charter provides for the appointment of a well-qualified City Attorney to advise the council and city officers in all matters of law. Relinquishment of Mountain View's constitutionally protected right to provide for the conduct of its elections is unwarranted when there is no evidence that Mountain View itself has violated state law governing the form and content of ballot questions. All local governmental entities should not be subjected to oversight because of the errors of a few, especially when state law provides a legal process for the voting public to challenge misleading, false or partial ballot questions.

R1e

Governing entities within Santa Clara County should submit their ballot questions for review by the Good Governance in Ballots Commission pursuant to