This section allows incorporated cities to create and implement their own local laws or ordinances following the guidelines of this article.

This law allows people to propose new city laws or changes by submitting a petition. To do this, they must gather a certain number of voter signatures. Each part of the petition must include the petition's title and the full text of what they want to change or introduce. The parts of the petition should be labeled as instructed in another section.

This law section outlines the process for starting an initiative petition in a city. Before you can begin collecting signatures, you must file a notice of intention with the local elections official. This notice needs to include the complete text of the initiative and can also include a statement explaining why the initiative is being proposed. The notice must be signed by up to three proponents and should follow a specific format called the 'Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition'.

Additionally, when you file this notice, you must pay a fee, which is set by the city's legislative body but cannot be more than $200. If your petition gathers enough valid signatures within a year, your fee will be refunded.

This law describes the responsibilities of an elections official concerning initiative petitions in a city. From the moment the petition materials are filed until the petition is either officially rejected for not having enough signatures, the initiative measure is voted on, or it is adopted by the city council, the official needs to keep certain documents on file. These include the notice of intention, the initiative text, and any reasons given for the petition. During this period, anyone can request copies of these documents, and the official can charge a fee that covers the actual cost of providing them.

This section explains how a proposed measure is processed before being put on a ballot. Firstly, if someone is interested in proposing a measure, they must file it with the elections official, including their address. The elections official then forwards the measure to the city attorney, who has 15 days to create a neutral ballot title and summary that accurately reflects the measure's purpose without bias.

Once the city attorney has completed the title and summary, the elections official sends it back to the person who proposed the measure. Before the measure can be circulated for signatures, the ballot title must be displayed prominently above the text of the measure on every petition page, ensuring it is in a readable font size. This way, voters can clearly understand what the proposed measure is about when signing the petition.

If you're a voter in the city and believe the ballot title or summary created by the city attorney is wrong, you can ask a court to demand a change. The court will hear the case quickly. However, they will only order a change if there's strong evidence that the title or summary isn't correct or doesn't meet legal standards.

This section specifies how to publish or post a notice of intention, title, and summary for a proposed measure. If there is a local newspaper recognized by law, the notice should be published there at least once. If there's no such newspaper in the city, the notice should be published in a newspaper that circulates in the county and posted in three public places in the city used for city ordinances. If no such county newspaper exists, just follow the posting method. There's no need to publish or post the full text of the proposed measure.

This law requires that within 10 days of publishing or posting a notice of intention and its title and summary, the people proposing the notice must submit a copy along with an affidavit certifying the publication or posting. This affidavit must either be made by a newspaper representative if the notice was published, or by a voter if it was posted. If both methods are used, separate affidavits are needed for each. These documents must be filed with the city's elections office during normal business hours.

The people who propose a new city measure can start collecting signatures from city voters after the notice and summary written by the city attorney are published or posted. Each part of the petition must include a copy of the notice of intention and the title and summary.

This law states that signatures for petitions must be collected and the completed petitions filed within 180 days from when you receive the title and summary. If there's a legal challenge involved, the 180 days start after that is resolved, and any amended titles or summaries are received. Petitions must be submitted to the elections office during regular business hours. If you don't file on time, the petitions won't count at all.

This law section explains the process for filing a petition in a city. The petition needs to be submitted all at once by the proponents or someone they authorize in writing. Once submitted, it cannot be changed unless a court decides so. When the petition is handed to the elections official, they must check the number of registered voters the city has and count the petition's signatures.

If the number of signatures is at least the minimum required, the petition will be accepted and officially filed. If there aren't enough signatures, the official won't proceed with the petition.

Once a petition is filed with the city, it's the city's elections official's job to review it, just like they would a county petition. They follow the rules laid out in Sections 9114 and 9115, but any mention of the 'board of supervisors' should be understood to mean the city's legislative body instead.

This section allows a city's legislative body to refer a proposed initiative measure to a city agency for a detailed report. This report can cover the measure's potential impacts on the city's finances, planning and zoning consistency, land use, housing availability, infrastructure funding, business retention, and use of vacant land. It can also look into effects on agriculture, traffic, existing business districts, and urban revitalization efforts. The report must be given to the legislative body within 30 days after the petition's sufficiency is certified by the elections official.

Every odd-numbered year, by April 1st, local election officials must report to the Secretary of State about municipal initiative petitions from the last two years. This includes how many petitions didn't make it to the ballot and how many had reports done as per Section 9212. Furthermore, they need to report on initiative measures that did make it to the ballot, indicating how many were approved or not approved by voters, and again, how many had reports prepared under Section 9212.

If a city's initiative petition gets enough signatures from its voters—at least 10% in bigger cities or 25% (or 100 voters, whichever is smaller) in smaller ones—the city's legislative body must act in one of three ways. First, they can pass the proposed law without changes at their next regular meeting or within 10 days of receiving the petition. Second, they can decide to let the city’s voters decide on the proposed law. Finally, they can choose to order a report about the petition, after which they must either pass the law within 10 days or arrange for a public vote.

If you've proposed an initiative, you can take it back anytime before the 88th day leading up to the election. This holds true even if officials have already said your petition meets the requirements.

If a city with a mayor or similar officer who has veto power sees an ordinance proposed by voters being vetoed, and the city council or legislative body does not override the veto, it is considered that they have refused to pass the ordinance.

If most voters approve a proposed city law (ordinance), it becomes official and binding. The ordinance is considered adopted when the city council declares the vote, and it takes effect 10 days later. Once adopted by voter approval or by city council without a public vote on an initiative petition, the ordinance can't be changed or canceled unless it's done through another public vote, unless the original ordinance states otherwise.

In California, voters can vote on multiple proposed laws, called ordinances, during the same election. However, the same issue can't be voted on more than once in a year at a special election.

When there are two or more conflicting ordinances voted on in the same election, the one that gets more 'yes' votes will be the one that counts.

The city government can propose changes to their laws without needing a voter petition. They can ask voters to approve or reject new, amended, or repealed ordinances during upcoming regular or special city elections. If most voters agree, the changes are made. The city can create an ordinance or resolution to propose these changes or call a special election, but the election must be at least 88 days after it's announced.

This law section states that if a city ordinance or measure needs to be voted on in an election, the city's election official must ensure it's printed. Additionally, any voter who requests a copy must be given one.

This law section specifies the introductory wording required for a city ordinance that is put to a vote by the people. The ordinance must start with a phrase in a specific format: “The people of the City of ________ do ordain as follows:”

This law section clarifies that the rules discussed in this article do not apply to any initiative measures that are voted on statewide.