Frequently Asked Questions

A city charter is a legal document that serves as the constitution for a city, outlining the organization, powers, functions and essential procedures of the city government. It establishes the governance structure, defines roles and responsibilities of elected officials and city departments and safeguards the rights of citizens. The charter provides the framework within which the city operates, ensuring that municipal policies and actions align with state laws and the needs of the local community.

City’s commonly amend their charters as community priorities evolve or State law changes. The original charter for Los Alamitos, established in 1960, has been amended from time to time, too, but certain sections have not been modernized in quite some time. To address these changes, specific updates are necessary, including increasing the spending limit for the public works department, establishing district-specific term limits for city council members, refining the language concerning district elections and implementing new campaign contribution and lobbying rules.

The current charter requires a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for any public works projects exceeding $10,000. A $10,000 spending threshold can often delay projects by up to 8 months by slowing down the public bidding and approval process. This has resulted in critical repairs being postponed and discouraged highly-qualified companies from bidding on smaller projects due to the long timelines and bureaucratic hurdles. For instance, the City recently experienced a gas leak at their police station facilities. The $10,000 limit required City Council to approve repairs with an emergency order and did not empower staff to take swift action to resolve the leak and keep the police station operating at full capacity. Outside of the charter, an additional spending limit of $100,000 is applicable to contracts for professional services. It is governed by the City Council and is not addressed in this proposed charter amendment. 

Raising the spending authority for the public works department to $125,000 will enhance the efficiency and responsiveness of the public works department. With this change to the charter, smaller public works projects will be started and completed more swiftly.

District-specific term limits are proposed to adjust current term limits to be related to the new by-district elections in Los Alamitos. By modifying term limits to be district-specific, charter language is cleaned up to recognize the City's recently adopted district elections. During council discussion on this item, it was noted that this proposal balances the intent of term limits with the new by-district elections process.

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No, the amended charter will not create any new taxes or increase any existing ones.

The City of Los Alamitos strives to be as transparent with our practices as possible. While the City already meets or exceeds the rules defined by the State political ethics entity (Fair Political Practices Commission), the new provisions on campaign restrictions and lobbyist registration requirements significantly exceed the current State requirements and will provide more information to the community about special interest activities in the city.

Yes. The spending increase for public works contracts will adhere to the same transparency guidelines in place for all procurement.  Any expenditure over $80,000 will require approval from the Budget Standing Committee, providing an extra layer of oversight. Any expenditure over $100,000 requires Council approval. Any expenditure over $125,000 will require , a formal bid process will be implemented to ensure competitive pricing and proper vetting of vendors for significant purchases.

Possibly. By increasing the public works spending threshold, unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles will be eliminated, thereby saving valuable time and resources. This efficiency will allow those resources to be allocated more effectively elsewhere.

The charter has been amended four times since adoption, however, these specific sections regarding government transparency have never been addressed. The last charter revision took place in 1998.

All registered voters in Orange County will receive a vote-by-mail ballot. You can cast your vote at any Orange County voting center or mail in your ballot. For more information about voting in Orange County, please visit www.ocvote.gov/.

No. The proposed measure would not eliminate mandatory competitive contract bidding. This measure would increase the public works bidding threshold for City Council award of contracts from $10,000 to $125,000. 

This measure aims to increase transparency in local government. The measure would require lobbyists attempting to influence City decisions to register with the City and disclose the nature of their lobbying efforts. Such registrations and disclosures would be made accessible to the public. If approved, the City Council is required to adopt policies, procedures and regulations to implement the measure.

This amendment to the charter, modeled after the Political Reform Act, and places a local limit on companies and individuals who donate to candidates for elected offices. Currently, the state limit for campaign contributions from a single individual or company is $5,500. The amendment to the charter would further limit campaign contributions for Los Alamitos candidates from a single individual or company to $500. 

Currently, city council members can serve up to three consecutive terms, after which they must step down for a year-long cooling-off period. The modification proposes a transition to district-specific term limits, such that no council member elected by district may serve more than three consecutive terms as a representative of that district or a combination of more than one district in accordance with state law, the district-specific term limits would apply prospectively. Years served by the current city council members prior to November 2024 would not count toward the newly enacted by-district term limits. In essence, the terms of every existing member of city council will reset for purposes of term limits if the measure is approved.