In the fall of 2011, Costa Mesa City Council asked the City Attorney to investigate the benefits and variations of the Charter form of city government. The information below outlines the differences between a general law city (Costa Mesa’s current form of government), and a charter law city; the advantages of the Charter form of city government; and various other relevant issues regarding the decision to use the Charter form of city government.

Any proposed charter would need to be placed on the ballot and approved by the voters.
 
Ballot arguments for proposed City Charter (Updated 3/20/12)

Proposed City Charter: Draft 3.1, City staff report, resolutions for March 6 meeting

Third Draft of proposed City Charter (2-21-2012)
FAQs mailer about the proposed City charter

Second Draft of the City Charter (Jan. 13, 2012)

City charter suggestions-comments (through Jan. 10, 2012)

Proposed City Charter: Staff Report from Dec. 6, 2011 City Council meeting

Proposed City Charter: Timeline of Events/Public Meetings

Proposed City Charter: Sample draft for Costa Mesa

Proposed City Charter: Charters from other Orange County cities

Proposed City Charter: League of California Cities primer on charters

Proposed City Charter: Charter vs. general law cities chart

Proposed City Charter: List of the 120 charter cities in California