The Council shall appoint a task force to recommend to the Council approaches to greatly increase resident and neighborhood participation and responsibility.

The Council shall establish a District Commission encompassing the entire City. The Commission shall be composed of the representatives of seven to fourteen districts, whose boundaries shall be established by the Council. The representatives of each district shall advise the Council regarding city matters, including 1) public safety issues; 2) participation in neighborhood planning meetings within the district; and 3) CIP budget priorities for their district. Each district representative, at the time of appointment and during their service as such, shall be, and remain a resident of the district they are appointed to represent.

The City shall undertake all reasonable efforts to encourage participation by all residents. Further, the Council shall undertake all reasonable methods to ensure that its appointments to boards, commissions and committees reflect Santa Rosa's diversity, including geographic and ethnic diversity.

The City Council shall issue a written report annually that will be discussed in public session regarding its appointments to boards, commissions and committees. The report shall contain, but is not limited to, the total number of appointments in a given year, the total number of applications in a given year, and relevant diversity information including geographic and ethnic diversity. Further, the report will evaluate the progress and success of increasing the diversity of appointments.

Individual council members shall appoint one member of boards and commissions, except as provided below. Terms shall coincide with the term of the appointing council member. A new council member may replace appointments in the event one is selected to serve out the unexpired term of a council member. Any board or commission with less than seven members shall be increased to seven. This process shall be phased in by the council within two years of adoption by the electorate of this provision. Boards and commissions dealing with issues of interest to the general public shall commence public hearings, whenever practicable, no earlier than 5 p.m. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the District Commission, Redevelopment Agency, and Personnel, Building Regulation Appeals, and Housing Authority boards.

To preside over meetings of the Council and to vote as a member of the Council.

To establish the agendas for Council meetings with the assistance of the City Manager.

To appoint committees of the Council and Council committee chairpersons.

To appoint chairpersons of the City's boards, commissions, and committees with the approval of the majority of the Council.

To deliver annually a state of the City address in which they articulate policy and vision for the City.

To act as the ceremonial representative of the City and spokesperson of the City.

To make appointments to all county, regional and state bodies on which the City is represented with the approval of the majority of the Council.

To act as chief negotiator on behalf of the City with county, regional, state and federal bodies and agencies.

To see that all ordinances are enforced.

To appoint, except as otherwise provided, all heads of departments, subordinate officials and employees, and remove the same except as otherwise herein provided, and have general supervision and control over the same.

To serve as Director of Emergency Services, responsible for controlling and directing the effort of the emergency organization of the City in response to actual or threatened conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City.

To exercise general supervision over all privately owned public utilities operating within the City so far as the same are subject to municipal control.

To see that the provisions of all franchises, permits and privileges granted by the City are fully observed and report to the Council any violations thereof.

To act as purchasing agent for the City, except for the Board of Public Utilities, unless requested by such board.

To attend all meetings of the Council unless excused therefrom by the Council or the Mayor.

To examine or cause to be examined, without notice, the conduct of any appointed officer or employee of the City.

To keep the Council advised as to the needs of the City.

To devote their entire time to the interests of the City.

To have general supervision of all the public parks and playgrounds of the City.

To appoint such advisory boards as they may deem desirable to advise and assist the work of the City Manager, provided such boards shall not receive any compensation.

There shall be a Board of Public Utilities composed of 7 members appointed by the Council, at least one of which, if practical, shall be a civil engineer having some knowledge of municipal utilities. The members shall be appointed to staggered terms of 4 years in accordance with section 11. Members will serve without compensation. Additionally, the City Manager or a member of the City Manager staff shall sit on the Board as an ex officio non-voting member.

The Board of Public Utilities shall have general policy authority and direction over the management and operation of the City's water and sewer utilities and stormwater systems, and, as the Council may by resolution or ordinance direct, such other utility facilities or operations managed, owned or operated by the City, including dry utilities, including electricity, broadband and others.

Within the limits of the specific appropriations contained in the Council adopted annual budget for each City utility over which the Board of Public Utilities has authority, the Board may: (1) approve utility projects and award contracts therefor in accordance with procedures adopted by the Council; (2) negotiate property acquisitions for each utility consistent with the policies and practices of the City Council and within the parameters of state law; (3) rent and lease utility property and property needed for City utility purposes consistent with the policies and practices of the City Council and within the parameters of state law; and (4) award contracts for maintenance, services, supplies and professional services needed by each City utility in accordance with Council adopted procedures.

The books of each utility shall be kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for municipal enterprises.

The Board of Public Utilities shall perform such other duties and exercise said other authority as the Council, by resolution or ordinance, may from time to time direct.

The Council, by ordinance or resolution, shall establish, from time to time, the rates to be charged for water furnished and sewer services provided by the City and the fees, currently called demand fees, to be charged for connections to each City utility system under its authority.

The Board of Public Utilities, by resolution, shall establish, from time to time, other fees and charges needed in connection with the operation and maintenance of each City utility system.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Charter, no funds derived from the sale of water or the providing of sewer services, from fees imposed for connections to either City system, or fees or charges imposed and collected in connection with the operation of either system shall be transferred to the general fund of the City; but all such funds shall be used exclusively for the uses and purposes of the City water system and the City sewer system, respectively, and for the payment of interest on, and the redemption of, bonds issued by the City for the purpose of providing City water and sewer services.

Not later than January 1st of each year, the Council shall publish a summary of the current year's adopted budget, along with places where copies of the current year's adopted budget are available for public review. Not later than March 31st of each year and prior to any annual goal setting meeting held by the Council, the Council shall hold a public hearing seeking oral and written comment from the public on budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The notice of the public hearing shall be published twice, the first not earlier than 31 days prior to the hearing and the second not later than 5 days prior to the hearing. The notices shall be published at least 7 days apart.

The City Manager shall submit a proposed budget to the Council for the maintenance, operations, and capital improvement for all City departments and funds each fiscal year. The budget may span a single or multiple years. Whether a single or multi-year budget, the budget shall provide a complete financial plan of all City funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year and, except as required by law or this Charter, shall be in such a form as the City Manager deems desirable or the Council may require. The budget shall begin with a clear general summary of its contents; shall show in detail all estimated income and all proposed expenditures, including debt service, for the ensuing fiscal year, and shall be so arranged as to show comparative figures for actual and estimated income and expenditures for the current fiscal year and actual income and expenditures of the preceding two fiscal years.

Prior to adopting the budget, the Council shall publish a general summary of the proposed budget and a notice stating:

The Council shall adopt the budget on or before the last day of June of each year. If it fails to adopt the budget by this date, the budget proposed by the City Manager shall go into effect. The Council may revise or amend the budget from time to time during the fiscal year it is in effect.

The Santa Rosa City School Districts shall include kindergartens, primary, grammar and high schools, and such evening schools, parental schools, junior high schools, intermediate schools, and other schools and programs as are established or may hereafter be established by the Board of Education of the School Districts under the Constitution and general school laws of the state.

The boundaries of the Santa Rosa City School Districts shall be the boundaries now established for those School Districts, or that may be hereafter established for those School Districts, provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as prohibiting, or in any way affecting the annexation, for school purposes, of additional outside territory to the Santa Rosa City School Districts, in accordance with the general school laws of the state.

The government of the Santa Rosa City School Districts shall be vested in a Board of Education composed of those persons, who shall be elected pursuant to the general school laws of the state.

The powers and duties of the Board of Education shall be such as are now, or may hereafter be, conferred upon and enjoined on Boards of Education in city school districts by the laws of the State of California.

A Council vacancy may be filled by appointment by the Council or the Council may call a special election to fill the vacancy. If the Council fails to fill a Council vacancy within sixty days after it occurs, the Council shall then call a special election to be held as soon as practicable.

If for any reason the seats of a majority of the Council shall become vacant, the City Clerk shall then call a special election to fill the vacancies for the unexpired terms, such election to be conducted substantially in the manner provided for by the general laws of the state.

An appointee shall hold office until a successor is elected for the unexpired term at the next municipal election or until a successor is elected at a special election held in accordance with this section. Any person elected to the Council pursuant to this section shall serve the balance of the unexpired term.

If any officer of the City shall remove themselves from the City or absent themselves therefrom for more than thirty days consecutively without the prior permission of the Council or shall fail to qualify or shall resign or be convicted of a felony or adjudged incompetent, their office shall thereupon become vacant.

The Council may, by ordinance, provide the detailed procedure for carrying out the provisions of this Section.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City of Santa Rosa that strikes by firefighters and police officers are not in the public interest and should be prohibited, and that a method should be adopted for peacefully and equitably resolving disputes that might otherwise lead to such strikes. It is further acknowledged that strikes by firefighters and police officer are unlawful in the State of California.

Prohibition against Strikes. No City of Santa Rosa police department employee or fire department employee covered by the provisions of this section shall willfully engage in a strike against the City. Any such employee against whom the City brings charges of failing to report for work as part of a strike shall be subject to dismissal from their employment in the event the charges are sustained upon conclusion of the proceedings that are required by law for the imposition of disciplinary action upon said employee.

In the event that the City and any employee organization that is recognized by the City as the exclusive representation unit or representation units composed solely of employees of the police department and/or fire department, as such units are currently constituted or as they may be amended through negotiation or arbitration as provided in this section, fail to reach agreement on a memorandum of understanding after negotiating in good faith as required by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, Government Code § 3500 et seq., then either party may request that the issues be submitted to binding arbitration. Except as otherwise provided in this section to the contrary, all provisions of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act shall apply to the negotiations and impasse procedures between the City and said employee organizations.

In the event that the City and any employee organization that is recognized by the City as the exclusive representative of a representation unit or representation units composed solely of employees of the police departments and/or fire department, as such units are currently constituted or as they may be amended through negotiation or arbitration as provided in this section, fail to resolve any grievance over the application or interpretation of any provision in the memorandum of understanding between the City and said employee organization, except for any issue relating to discipline of an individual employee or employee(s), either party may request submission of the grievance to binding arbitration for final resolution.

The City and the representatives of the employee organization may stipulate to have the issues resolved by a single arbitrator agreed upon by the parties. If the parties are unable to agree to a single arbitrator, then within fourteen days after either party has notified the other in writing that it desires to proceed to arbitration, each party shall select and appoint one arbitrator to the Arbitration Board. The third member of the Arbitration Board shall be selected by agreement between the City and the employee organization and shall serve as the neutral arbitrator and Chairperson of the Board. In the event that the City and the employee organization cannot agree upon the selection of the neutral arbitrator within ten days after the appointment of the arbitrators referenced above, then either party may request the State Mediation and Conciliation Service of the State of California Department of Industrial Relations to provide a list of seven persons to act as the neutral arbitrator, the parties shall alternately strike names from the list of nominees until one name remains and that person shall then become the neutral arbitrator and the Chairperson of the Board.

The Arbitrator(s) in arriving at a decision shall consider the factors set forth in Government Code Section 3505.4 (d) in the following order of priority and importance:

The interests and welfare of the public and the financial ability of the City to pay shall be determined based on an evaluation of evidence submitted by both parties based on all of the following criteria:

The decision of the Arbitrator(s) shall provide a written explanation as to the application of the factors set forth above in the decision. Compliance with the provisions of the Charter shall be mandatory and enforceable by either party pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure; failure to comply with these provisions shall also constitute an act in excess of jurisdiction.

After reaching a decision, the Arbitrator(s) shall mail or otherwise deliver a true copy of its decision to the parties. The decision shall not be publicly disclosed and shall not be binding until 10 days after it is delivered to the parties. During that 10 day period the parties shall meet privately, attempt to resolve their differences, and by mutual agreement amend or modify the decision of the Arbitrator(s). At the conclusion of the 10 day period, which may be extended by mutual agreement between the parties, the decision of the Arbitrator(s), as it may be modified or amended by the parties, shall be publicly disclosed and shall be binding on the parties. The City and the employee organization shall take whatever action is necessary to carry out and effectuate the arbitration award. No other actions by the City Council or by the electorate to conform or approve the decision of the Arbitrator(s) shall be permitted or required.

The expenses of any arbitration proceeding convened pursuant to this Section, including the fee for the services of the Chairperson of the Arbitration Board and the costs of preparation of the transcript of the proceedings shall be borne equally by the parties. All other expenses which the parties may incur individually are to be borne by the party incurring such expenses.

The terms and language of this Section have been conceived in good faith and based on best known practices and applicable law at the time of its creation; however if after adoption any portion of this Section should be enjoined or declared invalid or otherwise vacated, other than by a vote of the electorate, the court shall determine whether the disputed portion of this Section is severable from the remaining portions of this Section and whether the remaining portions of this Section without the disputed portion maintains the intent of the voters in adopting this Section. The court shall set forth the basis for its determination on this issue as part of any judgment which invalidates any portion of this Section.

New limits on campaign contributions that are lower than the current $1,000 limitation.

A new schedule for reporting campaign contributions for all Council candidates, including all independent expenditures, that shall allow the greatest public knowledge of all campaign contributions.

Provisions that provide for public financing of Council election campaigns.