Article 4. Miscellaneous of California Government Code >> Division 1. >> Title 4. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 4.

Unless otherwise provided by law, with the approval of the legislative body by resolution and the written consent of the city attorney the head of a city department may destroy any city record, document, instrument, book or paper, under his charge, without making a copy thereof, after the same is no longer required. This section does not authorize the destruction of:
  (a) Records affecting the title to real property or liens thereon.
  (b) Court records.
  (c) Records required to be kept by statute.
  (d) Records less than two years old.
  (e) The minutes, ordinances, or resolutions of the legislative body or of a city board or commission. This section shall not be construed as limiting or qualifying in any manner the authority provided in Section 34090.5 for the destruction of records, documents, instruments, books and papers in accordance with the procedure therein prescribed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 34090, the city officer having custody of public records, documents, instruments, books, and papers, may, without the approval of the legislative body or the written consent of the city attorney, cause to be destroyed any or all of the records, documents, instruments, books, and papers, if all of the following conditions are complied with:
  (a) The record, paper, or document is photographed, microphotographed, reproduced by electronically recorded video images on magnetic surfaces, recorded in the electronic data processing system, recorded on optical disk, reproduced on film or any other medium that is a trusted system and that does not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the original document, or reproduced on film, optical disk, or any other medium in compliance with Section 12168.7 for recording of permanent records or nonpermanent records.
  (b) The device used to reproduce the record, paper, or document on film, optical disk, or any other medium is one which accurately and legibly reproduces the original thereof in all details and that does not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the original document images.
  (c) The photographs, microphotographs, or other reproductions on film, optical disk, or any other medium are made as accessible for public reference as the original records were.
  (d) A true copy of archival quality of the film, optical disk, or any other medium reproductions shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security purposes. However, no page of any record, paper, or document shall be destroyed if any page cannot be reproduced on film with full legibility. Every unreproducible page shall be permanently preserved in a manner that will afford easy reference. For the purposes of this section, every reproduction shall be deemed to be an original record and a transcript, exemplification, or certified copy of any reproduction shall be deemed to be a transcript, exemplification, or certified copy, as the case may be, of the original.

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 34090, the head of a department of a city or city and county, after one year, may destroy recordings of routine video monitoring, and after 100 days may destroy recordings of telephone and radio communications maintained by the department. This destruction shall be approved by the legislative body and the written consent of the agency attorney shall be obtained. In the event that the recordings are evidence in any claim filed or any pending litigation, they shall be preserved until pending litigation is resolved.
  (b) For purposes of this section, "recordings of telephone and radio communications" means the routine daily recording of telephone communications to and from a city, city and county, or department, and all radio communications relating to the operations of the departments.
  (c) For purposes of this section, "routine video monitoring" means video recording by a video or electronic imaging system designed to record the regular and ongoing operations of the departments described in subdivision (a), including mobile in-car video systems, jail observation and monitoring systems, and building security recording systems.
  (d) For purposes of this section, "department" includes a public safety communications center operated by the city or city and county.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 34090, the legislative body of a city may prescribe a procedure whereby duplicates of city records less than two years old may be destroyed if they are no longer required. For purposes of this section, video recording media, including recordings of "routine video monitoring" pursuant to Section 34090.6, shall be considered duplicate records if the city keeps another record, such as written minutes or an audio recording, of the event that is recorded in the video medium. However, a video recording medium shall not be destroyed or erased pursuant to this section for a period of at least 90 days after occurrence of the event recorded thereon.

(a) When installing new security systems, a transit agency operated by a city or city and county shall only purchase and install equipment capable of storing recorded images for at least one year, unless all of the following conditions apply:
  (1) The transit agency has made a diligent effort to identify a security system that is capable of storing recorded data for one year.
  (2) The transit agency determines that the technology to store recorded data in an economically and technologically feasible manner for one year is not available.
  (3) The transit agency purchases and installs the best available technology with respect to storage capacity that is both economically and technologically feasible at that time.
  (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, video recordings or other recordings made by security systems operated as part of a public transit system shall be retained for one year, unless one of the following conditions applies:
  (1) The video recordings or other recordings are evidence in any claim filed or any pending litigation, in which case the video recordings or other recordings shall be preserved until the claim or the pending litigation is resolved.
  (2) The video recordings or other recordings recorded an event that was or is the subject of an incident report, in which case the video recordings or other recordings shall be preserved until the incident is resolved.
  (3) The transit agency utilizes a security system that was purchased or installed prior to January 1, 2004, or that meets the requirements of subdivision (a), in which case the video recordings or other recordings shall be preserved for as long as the installed technology allows.

If authorized by the legislative body, all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the drafting of a new city charter are city charges. The legislative body may make appropriations for such expenses.

Whenever the legislative body finds that a name should be adopted and applied to any city street, or that the existing name of any city street should be changed, the legislative body may adopt a resolution designating a name for, or change the name of, such street.

Whenever the name of any street, boulevard, park, or place is adopted, established or changed, or any house numbers have been changed on any street, boulevard, park or place, by any city or other authority, the city clerk shall promptly forward a copy of the resolution, order, or other instrument providing for such new name or change of name or house number to the board of supervisors of the county within which such city is situated.

As used in this section, "petition" means any petition prescribed, by statute or city charter, as a necessary prerequisite to the institution of proceedings by the city, and includes, but is not limited to, initiative petitions, referendum petitions, recall petitions, petitions pertaining to the annexation of territory to a city, the consolidation of cities, or the dissolution of a city, and petitions to institute proceedings under an improvement act. Every person is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, who, circulating, as principal or agent, or having charge or control of the circulation of, or obtaining signatures to, any petition, willfully misrepresents or willfully makes any false statement concerning the contents, purport or effect of the petition to any person who signs, or who desires to sign, or who is requested to sign, or who makes inquiries with reference to it, or to whom it is presented for his signature. Every person is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, who circulates or causes to be circulated any petition knowing it to contain false, forged, or fictitious names.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
  (1) The legislative body of a city shall not grant credit for service to an elective officer for service that the elective officer has not performed.
  (2) The legislative body of a city shall not pay contributions for credit for service if an elective officer has not performed the service, regardless of the fact that the elected officer may personally elect to contribute for additional credit for service.
  (b) The prohibition provided by this section does not preclude an elective officer from choosing to receive credit for service in a retirement system by paying his or her own contributions for that purpose pursuant to the applicable provisions of the retirement system.