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Overview
The City of San Buenaventura is one of the oldest settlements
on the Pacific Coast. It is the site of the San Buenaventura Mission founded
in 1782, and incorporated as a town by the California Legislature on March
10, 1866.
The first Charter of the City was prepared and proposed by a Board of Freeholders elected October 13, 1931. The Charter was ratified and adopted by the electors on January 7, 1932, and approved by the State Legislature on January 26, 1933.
Since approval of the original Charter, the electorate approved amendments dated January 23, 1939; April 25, 1945; May 6, 1947; May 4, 1951; April 14, 1959; May 6, 1959, May 17, 1961; April 18, 1963; April 26, 1967, and July 1, 1968.
Early in 1970, a Charter Review Committee was formed to evaluate the Charter as it existed at that time. A new Charter was prepared and subsequently ratified by the electorate on November 3, 1970, and approved by the State Legislature on January 26, 1971. Then, on November 3, 1973, the electors approved and ratified amendments to the Charter. Those amendments were approved by the State Legislature on January 17, 1974.
Early in 1986, a Charter Review Committee was formed to again review the Charter as it existed at that time. A new Charter was prepared and subsequently ratified by the electorate on November 4, 1986. The Charter was submitted to and accepted by the Secretary of State on December 4, 1986, the formal effective date of the CHARTER OF THE CITY OF SAN BUENAVENTURA.
Governance
The City is governed by a Charter that constitutes the organic law of
the City under the Constitution of the State of California. Under the
Charter the City of San Buenaventura has the power to make and enforce
all laws and regulations with respect to municipal affairs, subject only
to such restrictions and limitations as may be provided in this Charter
and in the Constitution of the State of California. It shall also have
the power to exercise any and all rights, powers, and privileges heretofore
and hereafter established, granted, or prescribed by any law of the State,
by this Charter, or by other lawful authority, or which a municipal corporation
may exercise under the Constitution of the State of California. The enumeration
in this Charter of any particular powers is not to be held to be exclusive
of or any limitation upon this general grant of power.