The Fullerton City Council continues to seek charter city status after voting to draft the city charter themselves instead of a charter commission.
Last week, council members voted 3-2 to take on drafting the charter and appoint residents to an ad hoc committee tasked with providing input during the drafting process. Councilman Ahmad Zahra and Councilwoman Shana Charles voted against the motion.
The alternative would have asked voters to decide if they want to elect a charter commission of Fullerton residents to write the city charter. If approved by voters, the commission would be made up of the top 15 candidates, with the Mayor appointing any vacancies.
The elections for commissioners would be at-large, not by districts.
Zahra, who opposes Fullerton transitioning from a general law city to a charter city, said neither option afforded residents a fair opportunity to shape the city’s new governance.
“The fate of this city will be decided either by three people or 15 people, backed by money,” Zahra said at the June 3 meeting.
Zahra motioned to table the charter city initiative indefinitely, but failed to receive a second.
Mayor Fred Jung said he questioned why the discussion around charter status shouldn’t continue moving forward.
“Right now, it’s only an idea or an ideal, but if that can’t even be discussed, where are we then as a society?” Jung said in a phone interview on June 5.
Councilwoman Charles said she was against transitioning to a charter city when there is a lack of transparency among council members and a lack of trust from the public.
“People said they are not necessarily opposed to a charter, but they are opposed to the current council majority,” Charles said in a phone interview on June 6.
Charles said she received emails in favor of a charter, but that residents wanted an elected commission to give people from the community the opportunity to decide on what would be in the charter.
“Every single one of those emails has said, it’s got to be an elected commission,” Charles said at the meeting. “That’s the only way to make it reasonable and valuable.”
Zahra argued that politicians should not be the ones writing the charter on behalf of the people.
“It is more damaging for the council to write the charter,” he said in a phone interview on June 6. “This is the worst and most undemocratic path they could have chosen.”
Councilman Nicholas Dunlap said the city was “plagued” by short-sighted leadership and needed change, adding that residents would have opportunities to provide input through the committee.
“I do think that we can form a committee where we can get a lot of good feedback from across our community, to work on something that ultimately can really be good for our city for years to come,” Dunlap said at the meeting.
Jung said choosing to move forward with electing a charter commission seemed counterintuitive when two councilmembers are against placing a charter on the ballot in the first place.
“The vocal minority does not want one election, as in they don’t even want the charter on the ballot, so why would you do two?” Jung said in a phone interview.
The charter commission would require two separate votes, one electing commissioners and one for voters to approve the charter, according to a city staff report.
Continued Debate Over Costs
Charles raised red flags about fiscal irresponsibility during the June 3 meeting after staff initially excluded the cost slide from the presentation.
“I have a slide here and online that says costs that was not discussed,” Charles said at the meeting.
Placing the measure on the upcoming November general election ballot would cost the city $8,500, while holding a special election could raise costs to between $250,000 and $500,000, according to the staff report.
Dunlap said it is important to focus on the city’s future and that the costs associated are nominal.
“I think the reality is to hang up a decision like this on a simple $8,500 expense is ridiculous,” Dunlap said at the meeting. “And so for me, it’s no matter.”
Charles said the Fiscal Sustainability Committee explored various solutions to address the city’s budget deficit, and becoming a charter city was not among the recommendations..
“That committee did not come back to us and say, look, you really need to look at a charter, because that’s going to help with this,” Charles said at the meeting. “If that had happened, I would have been a lot more confident in this charter thing.”
Resident Yolanda Harrison said she was very concerned about the costs of putting the measure on the ballot.
“Fullerton was definitely in the red, deep, dark in the red,” Harrison said at the meeting. “You can’t afford to go through with doing a charter, you can’t afford the litigations, you can’t afford the costs to bring it forward to the voters.”
Resident Joshua Ferguson said residents were never upset when the city council spent money irresponsibly in the past, noting that the cost of placing a charter measure on the ballot was relatively low.
“A lot of people who care so much about fiscal responsibility when it suits their needs,” he said at the meeting.
Jung said zero money has been spent.
“The opponents of this say that somehow we shouldn’t fund this, that it is a waste of taxpayer expense,” he said in a phone interview. “What expense?”
Councilwoman Jamie Valencia said she was excited about the possibility of a charter city and moving in a different trajectory.
“Projects may be completed in a more timely manner, so we won’t have to expend more financial burden on pockets of money that we have,” she said at the meeting.
Zahra said there are hidden costs tied to hiring a consultant, educating residents and promoting the charter measure during the campaign.
“They are trying to hide the cost and minimize it,” he said in a phone interview.
Resident Mathew Truxaw said he was not opposed to a charter city status but to fiscal irresponsibility.
“The city council does not have the time or expertise,” Truxaw said at the meeting. “As our city clerk and attorney said, it will probably be several $100,000 for an external consultant to come in and check and balance and make sure it meets the law.”
Will Voters See a City Charter on the 2026 Ballot?
Jung said a charter is in the distant future, and will first require public outreach.
“There is no timeframe for this,” Jung said in a phone interview. “What I can assure you of is I do not expect this for 2026.”
While city staff did not provide a specific timeline for drafting the charter, the city is required to hold two public hearings at least 30 days apart. It must submit the measure to the ballot no later than 88 days before the election, according to the staff report.
Jung said two public hearings would not be enough.
“I want us to have half a dozen at the bare minimum,” he said in a phone interview.
Zahra said council members have rushed through the process, and that their actions have contradicted their words.
“Which option did they choose?” Zahra said in a phone interview. “The fastest one, the most convenient one, because they do want to get it on the 2026 ballot.”
Jung first placed the item on the agenda at the March 4 meeting.
Charles said she did not see why this measure needed to appear in next year’s election.
“We might get a lovely new charter voted on, and two sales tax measures voted down, and then they will get their charter city that goes bankrupt within two years,” Charles said in a phone interview.
In the 2026 election, Fullerton voters will also be asked to vote on two dedicated 0.5% add-on sales tax measures—one for streets and infrastructure, and another for public safety, as the city faces a $3.9 million budget shortfall.
Charles said there are no benefits to going through with the transition that will outweigh the chaos and confusion that will come with it.
“It is a distraction, it is chaos when it’s unnecessary, and what is really necessary is the fiscal sustainability of this city,” Charles said in a phone interview.
She added that there will be another transition with City Manager Eric Levitt, who will depart and serve as city manager for San Bernardino.
Levitt is set to begin his new role Aug. 4.
Isabel Torres is a Voice of OC intern. You can contact her at isabtorres@chapman.edu.
