Yorba Linda City Council withdraws from League of California Cities

 The Yorba Linda City Council has cast a unanimous vote to withdraw membership in the League of California Cities, which council members complain isn't living up to its mission to “expand and protect local control for cities through education and advocacy.”

The league, commonly called Cal Cities, drew specific criticism from four council members for supporting Proposition 1 on the March primary election ballot and opposing the Taxpayer Protection and Governmental Accountability Act set for the November general election ballot.

The decision to drop membership in the 126-year-old organization of 475 California cities follows similar action by Huntington Beach, Orange and Newport Beach. The league has no provision to refund the $22,130 membership dues Yorba Linda already paid for 2024.

At an April 16 meeting, council members Tara Campbell, Beth Haney, Peggy Huang and Janice Lim each cited a lack of support for local control measures as key reasons for the withdrawal.

Two representatives from the league spoke in favor of Yorba Linda continuing membership, citing financial and educational benefits for the city. They noted that, despite difficulties with details, support for Proposition 1 and opposition to the taxpayer initiative was warranted.

Huang, who said she voted to join the league in a previous council term and has served on several league committees, said she now “regrets” her past support. Regarding the league commitment to local control measures, Huang said she's “not seeing it in action.”

Haney said that Proposition 1 “reduces local control,” particularly regarding local funding for programs, and “Sacramento, in my opinion, does not have the knowledge to manage Yorba Linda.” She liked the two-thirds public vote requirement in the taxpayer protection initiative.

Lim said that league support for Proposition 1 “doesn't meet our city's goals” and that the measure was so controversial that the league at least should have taken a neutral stance.

Campbell noted the league “acknowledged problems with Proposition 1 but still supported it.” She agreed with her colleagues' comments and said that the league “sides with Sacramento rather than local cities.”

Proposition 1, the $6.38 billion bond measure for mental health and substance abuse facilities and homeless housing, squeaked through statewide by 50.19% in favor and 49.81% opposed, with just 28,024 votes separating the two sides.

The Orange County vote was 58% “no” and 42% “yes,” with a 93,550-vote margin, while the Yorba Linda vote was an overwhelming 70% “no” and 30% “yes,” with an 8,174-vote margin.

The taxpayer protection initiative would amend the state constitution to define all state and local levies, charges and fees as taxes and require new state taxes proposed by the state legislature to be approved by two-thirds legislative and public votes and new local taxes to be approved by a two-thirds public vote.