Santa Ana : City Panel Studying Government Changes

With one election scheduled for June 3 on a citizens’ initiative to change city government, a City Council committee is considering a plan to put another set of proposed changes on the November ballot.

Charter Amendment Committee chairman Gregory Sanders said Thursday that the group has come up with a “hybrid” structure that would divide the city into four wards rather than the current seven. Council members would be elected from each of those wards with two other council members and the mayor elected on a citywide vote.

At present, all council members are elected citywide and the mayor is chosen by the council.

Sanders said a series of public hearings will be held in April to discuss the proposed changes--both the proposition put on the June ballot by a citizens group and the committee’s recommendations.

The citizens group, Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighbors, proposes that council members be elected by voters in their respective wards. The mayor would be chosen directly by all city voters.

The group, an alliance of smaller groups that have been opposed to various council actions, forced the issue to a vote in June after a successful petition drive.

If the committee’s proposals--which are expected to include some changes in the way city commissions are structured--are accepted, the council could vote to put them to the voters in November. If the voters approved those plans, the June vote would be nullified, Sanders said.