Legal Issues Associated with Use of Public Resources for Ballot Measure Activities

Important policy decisions affecting local agencies in California are made by the electorate through the initiative and referendum process. What role may local agencies and their officials play in the initiative and referendum process?

The Institute is grateful to McDonough, Holland and Allen, whose generous financial support of the Institute's ethics program made it possible to answer this question.

The document in the pod at right provides a series of questions and answers on questions that commonly arise for local agencies with respect to ballot measure activities. The guide provides general guidelines and analyses of issues based on what law is available. A local agency official should always consult with the agency's attorney concerning the propriety of any given course of conduct.

The information in this guide benefitted from the insights and expertise of the following attorneys: Kara Ueda, McDonough, Holland and Allen, Jennifer Henning, County Counsels Association of California, Patrick Whitnell, League of California Cities, Karen Getman, Remcho, Johansen and Purcell, Tom Brown, Hanson Bridgett, Vanessa Vallarta, City of Salinas, Joel Franklin, Law Offices of Joel Franklin, Sky Woodruff, Meyers Nave, Richard P. Shanahan, Bartkiewicz, Kronick & Shanahan, and Betsy Strauss, Law Offices of Betsy Strauss. All final decisions about the content of this guide were the responsibility of the Institute for Local Government, however.

Comments and suggestions on this draft may be directed to jspeers@ca-ilg.org.

For a simpler presentation of "do's and don'ts" on this issue, please see the Institute's Rules of the Road pamphlet.