City of San Bernardino’s 1919 Charter Amendments: Pay Raises

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

After the people of San Bernardino adopted a charter in 1905,  amended it in 1908, rejected amendments in 1911, and  amended it  in 1913, the Charter was amended again in 1919.     The amendments concerned salaries of local public officials.  I have drafted a legislative version with the 1913 version with the amendments adopted by the citizens of San Bernardino and approved by the California Legislature.

A special municipal election was held on March 19, 1919, and a majority of voters approved Proposed Charter Amendments One through Five.  Below is a strikeout version:

 

Sec. Section 24. The officers hereinafter named shall receive the salaries, following annual salaries: The mayor shall receive an annual salary of , $800; councilmen, each, $200; city clerk, $1000; city attorney, $600; chief of police, $1500.00; police judge, $1000, who shall be ex-officio treasurer. Salaries of all officers shall be , payable monthly.

Section 24A.  The councilmen shall each receive an annual salary of $300.00 payable monthly.

Section 24B.  The City Clerk shall receive an annual salary of $1500.00 payable monthly.

Section 24C.  The City Attorney shall receive an annual salary of $1500.00 payable monthly.

Section 24D.  The police Judge shall receive an annual salary of $1500.00 payable monthly.  The Police Judge shall be Ex-officio City Treasurer.

 

Section 24, salary of the Mayor, was approved again on June 4, 1974, March 6, 1974 and November 5, 2002.  Section 24-A was amended at least once, as the annual Council salary is now a princely $600 a year.  Section 24C was amended, and repealed.  Section 24D was also repealed.
Currently, these sections read:

Section 24. Salary of Mayor. The Office of Mayor shall be a full time
position and the incumbent shall not engage in any business, professional or
occupational activities which interfere with the discharge of the duties of such
office. Effective January 1, 2003, the annual salary of the Mayor shall be set at
fifty percent (50%) of the salary for a Superior Court Judge, County of San
Bernardino, State of California, as of July 1, 2002, and shall thereafter be adjusted
and implemented January 1 of each subsequent year at the same fifty percent
(50%) figure of the salary for said Superior Court Judge then in effect on said
January 1 date.
Section 24-A. Salary of Council. The Council Members shall each receive
an annual salary of six hundred dollars ($600.00), payable monthly.
Section 24-B. Salary of City Clerk. That the salary to be received by the
City Clerk shall be fixed by the Mayor and the Common Council.

 

Here is the preamble from Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 23 “Approving certain amendments to the charter of the City of San Bernardino in the county of San Bernardino, State of California, voted for and ratified by the qualified electors of said city of San Bernardino, at a special municipal election held therein on the eighteenth day of March, 1919 [Filed with Secretary of Sate April 11, 1919.]  Found at Chapter 38 of the Statutes of California 1919, starting on page 1485:

PREAMBLE

            Be it known that,

WHEREAS, The city of San Bernardino, of the county of San Bernardino, State of California, has at all times mentioned herein been and now is a municipal corporation of said State of California, containing a population of more than three thousand five hundred (3,500) inhabitants, and has been ever since the eighth day of February, 1905, organized and existing and acting under a freeholders’ charter adopted under and by virtue of section eight, article eleven of the constitution of the State of California, which charter was duly ratified by the qualified electors of said city at an election held for that purpose on the sixth day of January, 1905, and approved by the legislature of the State of California, on the eighth day of February, 1905 (Stats. 1905, page 940, et seq.); and

WHEREAS, the mayor and common council of said city of San Bernardino, did by resolution designated as “Resolution No. 928” adopted by said mayor and common council on the twentieth day of January, 1919, and approved by the mayor of said city on the twentieth day of January, 1919, and pursuant to section eight of article eleven of the constitution of the State of California, duly propose to the qualified electors of said city of San Bernardino certain amendments, hereinafter set forth, to the charter of said city to be submitted to said qualified electors at a special municipal election to be held in said city on the eighteenth day of March, 1919; and,

WHEREAS, said resolution and said certain proposed amendments hereinafter set forth was published for one day in a daily newspaper  printed and published in said city and of general circulation therein, to wit: In the San Bernardino Daily Sun, said publication being on the twenty-second day of January, 1919; and

WHEREAS, copies of said proposals containing said proposals containing said proposed amendments were printed in convenient pamphlet form and until the date fixed for election hereinafter described and required by law, an advertisement was published in said San Bernardino Daily Sun, that such copies could be had upon application thereof, at the office of the city clerk;

WHEREAS, Thereafter the mayor and common council of said city did by an ordinance designated “Ordinance No.714” which was duly passed and adopted on the third day of February, 1919, and approved by the mayor of said city on February 4, 1919, call and order the holding of a special election in the city of San Bernardino on the eighteenth day of March, 1919, which said last-mentioned date was at least forty days and not more than sixty days after the completion of the publication of such resolution and proposed amendments to said charter for one day  in said San Bernardino Daily Sun, a daily newspaper of general circulation, printed, published and circulated in said city, and which said ordinance calling such special election specified and ordered and ordained that said proposed amendments be submitted to the qualified electors of said city at said special election for ratification or rejection, and designated the time of such election and established election precincts, and designated the polling places therein, and the election officers for each such precinct, and which said ordinance was published ten  times in said San Bernardino Daily Sun, the last date of such publication being on the twentieth day of February, 1919; and

WHEREAS, Said amendments were duly submitted to the qualified electors of said city of San Bernardino at said special election held on said eighteenth day of March, 1919, which said special election was held not less than forty days nor more than sixty days after the completion of the publication of such proposal for one day in said daily newspaper; and

WHEREAS, In and by said ordinance and said resolution so passed, approved and published as aforesaid, said proposed amendments were submitted to the qualified electors of said city at said special municipal election; and

WHEREAS, On the twentieth day of March, 1919, at a meeting of said mayor and common council of said city of San Bernardino duly convened in accordance with law and with the provisions of said charter of said city, said mayor and common council of said city of San Bernardino did duly and regularly  canvass the returns of said special municipal election so held on the eighteenth day of March, 1919, and did find thereupon that each said proposed amendments to said charter, hereinafter particularly set forth, was duly ratified by the electors voting thereon; and

WHEREAS, Said mayor and common council after canvassing said returns and at said meeting so held as aforesaid, after said canvass, did duly find and declare that said proposed amendments had been ratified and adopted by the majority of the electors voting thereon; and

WHEREAS, Said amendments so ratified by the electors of said city of San Bernardino at said special municipal election held on the said eighteenth day of March, 1919, are now submitted to the legislature of the State of California for approval or rejection, as a whole, without power of alteration or amendment, in accordance with the provision of section eight of article eleven of the constitution of the State of California; and

WHEREAS, No other proposed amendment to said charter had been submitted to the electors of said city of San Bernardino within two (2) years immediately prior to said 18th day of April, 1913 [sic, it was unchanged from the Preamble of the 1913 amendment];

Now, THEREFORE the undersigned, J.W. Catick, the mayor and chief executive of the city of San Bernardino, and J.H. Osborn, city clerk and clerk of the mayor and common council of said city, authenticating their signatures, with the official seal of said city, do hereby certify, that said amendment to said charter of said city so ratified by the majority of the electors, voting thereon at said special municipal election, held on the eighteenth day of March, 1919, as submitted to said electors in the words and figures as follows, and are and shall, if so approved by said legislature, be in the words and figures following, to wit:”

The Charter of the City of San Bernardino, as amended in 1919, was not amended again until 1921.  I find it amusing that even in 1919, the Preamble was largely a cut-and-paste job.

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Copyright 2011 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

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