Voters may be considering a ballot measure to update portions of Mountain View’s city charter during the 2026 election.
The City Council discussed the potential ballot measure during a study session on Feb. 10. The council did not make a vote. The amendments are intended to be non-controversial and are limited to technical changes including typographical errors, language updates, revisions of archaic terminology and aligning the charter with state law. “There are many reasons why it’s worth pursuing today and not waiting until 2028,” said Councilmember Lucas Ramirez.
The amendments were developed by the city attorney’s office, which reviewed the charters of San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Oakland, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara to identify best practices for modernization.
Specifically, some of the changes being made include modernizing terminologies. The changes would replace references to the City Manager as “he” with the gender neutral term “they,” and references to maintaining “books” would be updated to say “records.”
Additionally, the edits would extend the timeframe for the council to make an appointment or call a special election on a council vacancy from 30 days to 60 days. State law allows up to 60 days, according to the staff report.
“The current 30-day deadline presents an extremely tight timeline within which to evaluate options, solicit and review applications, conduct interviews, and take formal action, particularly when accounting for noticing and procedural requirements,” the staff report said.
The council will also determine the qualifications for membership on boards and commissions either to be made explicitly by the charter or determined by the council, or a combination of both.
The council will likely pursue a more substantive policy level charter update on the 2028 ballot. Some members of the council also expressed an interest in establishing a charter commission for the 2028 ballot measure, which would be responsible for offering recommendations on amendments to the city charter.
“When you backtrack from when we will need this in 2028, it’s not really that long,” Councilmember Pat Showalter said.
City staff noted that a commission would likely not be feasible for at least a year.
“Staff would need to really take a look where the ability to do that work fits in with the existing council priorities,” said Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour.
