Is An “Action” An Ordinance?

Council Settles On VERITAS Ballot Language

   Is an “ordinance” an “action” or an “enactment?” Or both? Or neither?
   Is an “emergency enactment” synonymous with “emergency action?” Or not.
   These were some of the questions members of the Santa Monica City Council posed to each other and the City Attorney last night as it struggled to reword the summary of the proposed VERITAS ballot measure which will appear on the November ballot.
   At its June 11 meeting, the Council had asked the City Attorney to rewrite the language submitted by VERITAS backers because some members felt it did not adequately describe the measure which would restructure both city government and the electoral process.
   Last night, Paul DeSantis, VERITAS co-author, appeared before the Council, stated emphatically that the original language of the summary was adequate, suggested that its proposed revision of the summary was out of order and noted that he had the Council “on tape.”
   After a brief exchange with DeSantis, during which some Council members challenged both his claims and allegations, the Council and City Attorney Marcia Moutrie discussed her office’s proposed revised summary at length.
   Ultimately, though a number of further changes were discussed, the Council approved the language proposed by Moutrie with one small delection, 6 to 1, with Council member Robert Holbrook dissenting. . .
   The VERITAS, Proposition A, ballot summary which will appear on the ballot is as follows: “Shall the City Charter and Muncipal Code be amended to change the system of electing City Council members by creating City Council districts, imposing term limits for Council members and establishing a municipal primary election with runoffs in the fall, to add to the seven-member Council a mayor who would be elected City-wide and would serve as the Council’s non-voting chairperson, and to change the process for Council actions by giving the mayor the power to veto Council actions, including emergency actions, which veto could be nullified if a specified number of Council members vote to override it?”