The Paso Robles city council’s next meeting is tomorrow, starting at 6:30 pm. On the council’s agenda is a discussion of the future of the downtown parking program, and the referendum brought by citizens that the city determined did not comply with state law. The referendum was submitted following the passing of ordinance number 1135, which modified the parking management ordinance to properly establish the boundaries of the paid parking area in downtown Paso Robles. The ordinance was adopted for its second reading on March 5th. The referendum petition tilted “Require Voter Approval of Paid Parking Zones Ordinance” was emailed to the city on March 17th. The agenda for this next meeting says that city manager Ty Lewis had reached out to its proponents on March 19th, alerting them that he had concerns about the validity of the form being used. The agenda further says that the proponents were not available to meet with the city manager to discuss the form, and “indicated they had legal counsel and were confident the referendum complied with state law.” The referendum and its signatures were later provided on April 2nd to the city clerk. The city says that the referendum failed to comply with state law, and that they anticipate to issue a notice of rejection on Wednesday, May 8th.
The agenda goes into detail into the defects the city found with the referendum. These include the notices required by election code section 101(a)(1) and (3), which requires specific typefaces in a petition, as well as a disclosure statement. The city says they do not find these defects compliant with state law, and that legal precedents do not support positions of substantial compliance, though it is not a determination the city clerk or council can make.
The agenda goes on to say that the petition fails to include the ordinance number and title, required by elections code section 9238(b)(1). The city says the failure to include the reference code makes the petition ambiguous, and potentially misleading to what its actual effect will be if successful.
City staff will look to council for further direction for the paid parking program in this next meeting. The ordinance that the city previously approved will go into effect on May 8th, unless the council chooses to consider an ordinance to repeal it.
You can attend tomorrow’s meeting in person, or listen right here on KPRL.
