CHAPTER VII CITY GOVERNMENT 73. The Meaning of the Word City. - Two essential ideas are involved in the word city: (1) At least a few hundred people must live within a comparatively small area; and (2) the community must be incorporated—that is, the state must have given the people of the community the power to manage their local affairs. In California there is no difference in meaning between the words city and town.1 When a community incorporates, it decides that its name shall be the city of or the town of and the name in no way indicates the size of the place or the powers exercised by its government. In some parts of the United States, especially in New England, the two words, as we have learned, have very different meanings. 74. How Cities differ from other Public Corporations. Little need be said on this subject at this point except to sum up what has been said in Chapter III. Every city and incorporated town has a charter, which is a grant of power to it from the state and which outlines its plan of government. It received its first charter when it incorporated, for to incorporate means, among other things, to get a charter. A city needs a charter for two reasons: (1) because a thickly settled community has wants and interests 1 Reference is here made to incorporated towns. Unincorporated settlements are generally called towns for convenience. When used in this sense the word of course has a very different meaning from the word city. which the county government cannot look after; and (2) because the wants and interests of different cities are different, and therefore no one plan can be devised that will satisfactorily govern all cities. Each city must either have its own special plan of government, or, at any rate, all the cities of a state must be classified according to population and a plan be devised for each class. Quasi corporations have no true charters and are therefore not incorporated. The law confers upon them certain corporate powers, and for this reason they are classed as public corporations. Instead of charters they are governed according to general laws; that is, certain general laws relate to the government of counties, others to that of school districts, others to that of sanitary districts, etc. All quasi corporations of a certain kind are therefore governed alike.1 This is possible because the wants and interests of rural communities are comparatively simple and very much alike. 75. Three Kinds of City Charters. There are three kinds of city charters in use in California: special charters, class charters, and freeholders' charters. 1. Special Charters.-A special charter is one that is made directly by the legislature for a particular city. In a state where such charters are granted, a community wishing to incorporate presents its petition to the legislature and receives a charter made especially for it. Such a charter may be amended only by the legislature. Special charters were the only ones granted in California previous to 1879, but none have been granted since then because the new state constitution adopted at that time forbids the legislature to issue any more such charters. Special charters are still in use in five towns (Appendix E). As it would re 1 This rule varies; see § 40. CIVIL GOV. IN CAL.-8 quire a special act to amend any of these charters, it has been impossible to amend them since 1879.1 2. Class Charters. A class charter is one that is made and adopted by the legislature for cities of a certain class, the class depending upon the population. Our legislature has divided the cities of the state into eight classes,2 as follows: First class, population of more than 400,000. First and one half class, population from 250,000 to 400,000.3 Second class, population from 100,000 to 250,000. Second and one half class, population from 35,000 to 100,000.1 Third class, population from 23,000 to 35,000. Fourth class, population from 20,000 to 23,000. No city having a population of more than 3500 is compelled to use a class charter; and, as a matter of fact, those of the fifth and sixth classes are the only ones that have ever been used. A few cities (Appendix E) are now (1913) using the fifth class charter, and a large number of cities are using the sixth class charter. Class charters can be amended only by the legislature. 173 Cal. 77, 78. 2 Statutes of 1911, page 11. 3 The first classification was made by an act passed in 1883, which provided for six classes and adopted a charter for each class. In 1897 the first and one half class was created; but no charter was provided for it, as Los Angeles, the only city belonging to the class, had a freeholders' charter. It was created for the purpose of fixing the number of police judges for Los Angeles. 4 In 1911 this class was created for the purpose of providing clerks for the police courts in the cities affected, - Berkeley, Sacramento, and San Diego. No charter was provided for this class as all of these cities had freeholders' charters. 5 In 1912 the number was 157. 3. Freeholders' Charters.1-A freeholders' charter is one that is drawn up by a board of fifteen freeholders (landowners) who are elected for the purpose by the voters of a city, and is approved by the legislature after the voters have ratified it. To obtain such a charter a community must already be incorporated, and must have a population of more than 3500. It is really a special charter, but differs from the old "special charters" in the fact that it is not made by the legislature. The legislature has no power to alter or amend such a charter. When one is presented for its consideration, it must either approve or reject the charter as a whole. An amendment to a freeholders' charter may be submitted to the voters by the city council, and, if ratified, is then either approved or rejected by the legislature. Fifteen per cent of the voters may compel the city council to submit any desired amendment. All of our larger cities, more than thirty in number, have freeholders' charters (Appendix E). This explains why the first, second, third, and fourth class charters are not used. 76. How a Community Incorporates.2-A community begins to have wants and interests which the county government cannot look after as soon as it has a few hundred people living on two or three square miles of territory. It may provide for some of these wants and interests by forming itself, according to law, into a sanitary district, a fire district, a lighting district, a permanent road division, etc.; but even if its territory should comprise all of these districts, one superimposed upon another, all of its needs would not be met. Besides, this would be very cumber 1 See the state constitution, article XI, section 8. some and expensive, because each district would have its own separate government and would have to impose its own specific tax. By incorporating, the community may gain the power to tax itself to provide for all of its local needs. After incorporation it may care for its own highways, regulating their use and lighting them at night; it may make such sanitary regulations as it sees fit; it may protect itself against fire; and it may preserve order, regulate the sale of liquor, and control the operations of public service corporations within its borders. In short, it may do anything that its charter permits it to do, and every city charter attempts to convey sufficient power to provide for all local wants and interests. Any community having a population of at least five hundred may incorporate as follows: I. A petition signed by at least fifty of its voters must be presented to the county board of supervisors. The petition must state the boundaries, must give the population and the name of the proposed town, and must ask that the community be permitted to incorporate. 2. The board of supervisors must satisfy themselves as to the correctness of the facts stated in the petition, and must then call an election in the community to determine whether a majority of the voters favor incorporation or not. Municipal officers are chosen at this election to take charge of the affairs of the new town in case incorporation carries. 3. If a majority of the votes are for incorporation, the supervisors must issue a proclamation declaring the community to be incorporated, stating its name, its boundaries, and the class to which it belongs, and announcing the names of its first officers. A copy of this proclamation is sent by the county clerk to the secretary of state in Sacramento, who makes a record of the facts in the case, and this completes the process. The matter is not referred to the legislature; the supervisors, in all that they do, act as the agents of the state. |