Arcadia City Council has decided to leave in place a city policy that imposes term limits for serving on City Council, restricting residents from running for more than two consecutive council terms. Had council voted to remove the restrictions, local voters would have had a chance to vote on term limits as a local ballot measure. Arcadia's city charter requires council members who have served two consecutive 4-year terms to take a 2-year break before they can run again for another term.
Gary Kovacic is Arcadia's mayor for the sixth time since 1998. Mayor Pro Tem is Roger Chandler. Mayor Kovacic is in the final year of a second consecutive four-year term. Due to term limits, he will have to step away from Arcadia City Council for at last two years after he concludes his current term as mayor, next April.
Incumbents Sheng Chang and Barbara Kuhn failed in their bids for re-election to City Council as voters gave first-time candidate Gail Marshall, former Mayor Roger Chandler and council appointee Gary Kovacic the nod for the next four years. Gino Roncilli came in well ahead of former Mayor George Fasching for the two year seat. Voters also gave thumbs down to Measure A, a ballot initiative that would have added 2 percent to the current 5 percent utility tax for the next four years.
City Council has decided to have Arcadia voters decide whether the sale and use of fireworks should be banned in the city. The issue will appear on the April ballot.
City of Arcadia to place three measures on November 8, 2022 ballot. 1. Proposed City Charter Amendment Measure. The City Charter was last amended in 1998. The citizen-led Charter Review Committee recommends updates to mirror changes in state laws since 1998 and to reflect current local government standards, to include a) mirroring changes in state laws to increase voter turnout by moving the date of regularly scheduled city council elections from April in even-numbered years to the November Statewide General Election in even-numbered years. b) recognizing the city's change to by-district elections as required by California Voting Rights Act. c) Creating a rotation of mayor and mayor pro tem positions every 9.5 months to allow all council members to serve during their term. d) Change position of City Clerk from elected to appointed. e) other amendments to streamline government, utilize technology and increase transparency. 2. Two measures to increase locally controlled funding. One measure would increase Arcadia's local tax on stays at hotels and motels from 10% to 12%--similar rate to many neighboring cities. The other measure would enact a local tax on sports wagers if sports betting becomes legal in California through State Proposition 26, also on the November ballot
Though Arcadia's 1968 term limit rule forces council members to step down after two four-year terms, it allows them to come back two years later. Robert Harbicht is the latest former council member planning to make the two-year rebound.
Lawsuit filed against the City of Arcadia seeking an injunction against Mayor Sho Tay running for re-election on the November 2022 ballot. The City of Arcadia Charter limits City Council to two consecutive terms. He was appointed to City Council in 2018 when he ran unopposed for District 3. The suit challenges whether or not the term limits apply to Mayor Sho Tay, who is running for a third time.
Arcadia voters have approved ballot Measure A with 2091 people voting yes and 643 voting no. The measure protects the city's right to collect taxes on cell phone use. Measure A will not raise taxes.
Candidates discuss their positions on charter change at a forum presented by the Arcadia Republican Women's Club last week. The amendment will be on the April 10 ballot.
Unanimous Arcadia City Council acts to place local funding measure, known as the “Arcadia Public Safety, City Services and Accountability Measure” on the June 2019 ballot to maintain public safety and other city services. City staff and the Citizen’s Financial Advisory Committee have indicated Arcadia has a multi-million dollar structural deficit.
Arcadia City Council takes steps to increase public safety. On October 16, City Council discussed a recommendation to add a measure to the ballot containing a ¾-cent sales tax, which is needed to help Arcadia with its current financial woes. The Citizens Financial Advisory Committee reviewed the city’s expenditures and asked the council to declare a state of fiscal emergency as soon as possible and no later than June 2019. The vote to add the measure passed almost unanimously, with one council member recusing themself from the vote.
Arcadia City Council elections to continue, for District 1 and District 4, without interruption through April 14, 2020. It is an all mail-in ballot. Voters can mail completed ballot or drop off at Arcadia City Hall.
In an unusual move, the normally apolitical Arcadia PTA Council has endorsed Measure A on the April 14 ballot, pushing voter approval for a 2% utility tax increase.
Arcadia, Sierra Madre and Bradbury are holding elections today on tax measures and city council members. Arcadia voters will choose two City Council members from the candidates running--Gary Kovacic, John Wuo, Sho Tay, Henry Nunez, and Mary Dougherty--and vote on Measure D, the extension ofthe hotel room tax from a 30-day maximum to a 90-day stay. Arcadia's election is being conducted through an all-mail ballot for the first time.
Arcadia City Council today will once more reconsider whether to allow customer-requested address changes in light of concerns about a Chinese superstition involving the number four. Since the number four sounds like the word for death in Mandarin and is considered unlucky, some realtors and residents have argued that addresses that end in the number four are more difficult to sell and affect home prices. The cost of processing an address change would be about $2600.
Bob Huddy, who has served eight years on the Planning Commission and two terms as president of the Arcadia Business Association, has decided to try for a seat on the City Council. Biographical notes included.