La Mar v. City Council

STURTEVANT, J. This is an original application to this court for a writ of mandate. The petitioner is an elector and taxpayer in the city of South San Francisco, county of San Mateo. The respondents are the duly elected and acting members of the City Council of the City of South San Francisco. On December 1, 1941, said council adopted ordinance 216 creating a personnel system. Said ordinance took effect January 14, 1942. Among other things said ordinance provided as follows:

“Section 1. Adoption of Personnel System. Pursuant to the authority granted to the legislative body of any city within the State of California under the provisions of Chapter 48, Statutes of 1935, and in order to establish an equitable and uniform procedure for dealing with personnel matters through a department of personnel, and to place municipal employment on a merit basis so that the best qualified persons available shall be brought into the service of the city, the following personnel system is hereby adopted.

“Section 2. Department of Personnel. There is hereby created a department of personnel which shall consist of a board of review and a personnel clerk. The board of review shall consist of three members to be appointed by the city council.

“The first board to be appointed shall, at its first meeting, so classify its members by lot that one shall serve for a term which shall expire February 15, 1942, one shall serve for a term which shall expire February 15, 1944, and one shall serve for a term which shall expire February 15, 1946. At the expiration of each of the terms so provided for, a successor shall be appointed by the city council for a term of six years.

“Vacancies on the board of review, from whatever cause, shall be filled by appointment by the city council for the unexpired term. Each member of the board shall serve until his successor is appointed and qualified. A four-fifths vote of all the members of the city council shall be required to appoint a member to said board or to fill any vacancy thereon or to remove any member of said board from office prior to the expiration of his term of office. . . .

“Section 4. Personnel Clerk. The city council shall appoint a personnel clerk whose duty it shall be to act in the capacity of clerk for the personnel system. The duties of the office of personnel clerk may be combined with those of any [389]other office in the event the work involved does not warrant, in the discretion of the city council, the creation of a special position. . . .