League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Luis Obispo County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Measure I-12 Change Grover Beach to a Charter City City of Grover Beach Majority Approval Required Pass: 1718 / 50.16% Yes votes ...... 1707 / 49.84% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure I-12

Arguments Against Measure I-12

We believe converting the Grover Beach form of government from a General Law to a "Home Rule" Charter City will give citizens greater control over municipal affairs, improve the City's efficiency and preserve and protect local dollars. Currently the City derives its ability to operate from a constitution that is dependent on State law. As a Charter City a locally drafted charter approved by the voters becomes their constitution. In recent years the State has raided City funds on numerous occasions, taking millions of dollars without repayment. Even so, we have continued to balance our own budget. The City operates under State Law. Our Charter would provide some protection from state raids on our funds. Changes to the charter can only be made by going to a vote of the people. The City Council carefully developed a charter that would provide the greatest benefits for the City's residents. The Charter will: Reduce Sacramento control over local affairs Provide greater protection from State revenue grabs and unfunded mandates Promote the use of local business and support Economic Development Enable the City to establish local purchasing and bidding procedures Establish a 6 month residency requirement for Council candidates Allow the City to exempt itself from prevailing wage requirements for local projects funded by City generated dollars Support use of volunteers in municipal projects The Charter does not change: Council Member compensation The election process or procedure Term Limits Current taxing authority or create taxes The Charter will help keep the State out of local affairs and will allow for more cost effective and efficient operation of the City. Savings from local purchasing and bidding procedures along with the easing of prevailing wage requirements will provide more funds to preserve services and complete more projects. Please vote. Make Grover Beach a Charter City. s/ Bill Nicolls, Mayor Pro Tem s/ Karen Bright, Council Member s/ Debbie Peterson, Council Member Rebuttal to Arguments For NO REBUTTAL TO THE ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE I-12 WAS SUBMITTED

Vote No on Measure I-12. This charter initiative gives the City of Grover Beach a free hand "to set standards, procedures, rules or regulations on all aspects of the bidding, award and performance of any public works contract." This means public works projects can be awarded without a formal, competitive bidding process or the City of Grover Beach may perform the work using its own employees, but this includes the risk involved in the City's self-inspection of its own employees' work. Fair competition means a lower price and a better value from licensed and skilled contractors. Wouldn't you want the lowest price that is guaranteed by competitive bidding? Public agencies using formal bidding procedures are currently seeing bids below their engineer's estimates. These cost savings are being used by those cities and public agencies to complete other projects that were on hold because they lacked funding. Competitive bidding benefits the community and stimulates local economic growth. The California Public Contract Code (PCC) protects the public from misuse of public funds, provides a fair opportunity to all qualified bidders and eliminates favoritism, fraud and corruption in the awarding of public works contracts. Measure I-12 will exempt the City of Grover Beach from the PCC provisions that were created to ensure a fair, open and transparent government. The City Council is asking you to give them the power to spend freely and award public works contracts without any restrictions. If you want the City Council to be held accountable for how they spend your tax dollars, then we urge you to vote No on Measure I-12. s/ David A. McCosker, President, Construction Industry Force Account Council (CIFAC) Rebuttal to Arguments Against A Yes Vote on Measure I-12 is about local people using local dollars hiring local workers and companies to complete local projects. The Charter, or City Constitution, allows Grover Beach the flexibility to set local standards and procedures for the bidding and awarding of City public works contracts. Becoming a Charter City will not eliminate the competitive bidding process. Public works projects will continue to come before the City Council for public hearings prior to the awarding of contracts. The City, under the Charter will continue to uphold a fair, open and transparent government. The Charter allows the Council to be more accountable and do more with your tax dollars. Vote Yes on Measure I-12 to take control of your local tax dollars and protect your best interests. s/ Bill Nicolls, Mayor Pro Tem s/ Karen Bright, Council Member s/ Debbie Peterson, Council Member