Spring into San Mateo County local elections

San Mateo County Coastside Fire Protection District Recall Ends

Spring has come to San Mateo County but the local electoral politics remain hot despite the moderate temperatures of the Peninsula. April 9 saw the dramatic conclusion to a months-long process to recall three sitting board members of the San Mateo County Coastside Fire Protection District. When the recall embers finally dimmed, voters in the coastside district opted to remove the sitting members by a nearly two to one vote. This district provides the fire protection services for the 30,000 residents of the City of Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated communities of Montara, Moss Beach, Princeton, El Granada and Miramar.

The three recalled members of the board of directors include Michael Alifano, Doug Mackintosh and Gary Riddell. The three newly installed board members include Karen K. Anderson, J. B. Cockrell, and Harvey Rarback. 

The battle over the fire district revolved around the now former board members’ desire to reconstitute a local fire district and remove Cal Fire, the fire agency of the State of California, as the contracted provider of fire protection services. Opposed to the idea of turning back the clock to what many perceived to be a less functional department through a process that the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury lambasted as both unwise from a management perspective and a potential  financial risk for district taxpayers,  local residents launched a recall petition drive last summer.

The results of the efforts were significant as voters overwhelmingly cast ballots in favor of  recalling the three sitting board members opposed to Cal Fire. In fact, turnout for the off-time Special Election was 46% - which is not a turnout to celebrate but for an election with a singular purpose in April, somewhat remarkable. The new board members will take their seats in the next couple of weeks and begin the process of continuing a contract with Cal Fire.

San Mateo County Community College District Seat Vacancy

In addition to elections, some seats in public office are filled through appointment to fill an unexpected vacancy.

As of May 1, the San Mateo County Community College District will have such a vacancy with the resignation of veteran board member Helen Hausman. The Community College District includes three junior colleges in San Mateo: Skyline College, the College of San Mateo and Cañada College.

Hausman has served on the College District board since 1989 for a total of nearly 24 years. Her seat will be on the ballot in the November General Election. Prior to being elected to the College District board Hausman served for 13 years on the Sequoia Union High School District Board, making her one of the longest serving local elected officials in San Mateo County. Hausman cited some health challenges for her decision to retire early.

The vacancy on the board is a rare opportunity for a potential new board member to take a seat as turnover is rare.

In the last set of board elections in 2011, trustee Dave Mandelkern, who is the newcomer, easily won his third four-year term. Also winning their respective seats were veteran incumbents Pat Miljanich and Karen Schwarz who are now serving their fifth terms. Fellow board member Richard Holober was elected in 1997 and is currently in the middle of his fourth term.

Hausman's departure presents a couple of interesting dilemmas for her colleagues including whether or not to appoint Hausman's replacement or call a Special election in advance of November 2013. In addition, the board was nearing adoption of district elections to replace the at-large system by which board members are now elected. That process has been delayed and a potential new district board member may have a voice in that significant change.

San Bruno Park Elementary School Board Vacancy

Another local veteran Skip Henderson on the San Bruno Park Elementary School District Board of Trustees has also announced his early retirement due to health concerns, effective May 1, the same day as Hausman. Henderson is now serving his eighth term in local office for a total of 31 years. The San Bruno Park Elementary School District is one of the oldest elementary districts in San Mateo County, and began operation in 1906.

The San Bruno School Board has faced many challenges in the past few years and any replacement will be faced with many difficult decisions. The board has made the decision of selecting an interim trustee until November, when it expires. If anyone is interested in applying for the seat, information can be found on the district website according to the Superintendent David Hunt. You can apply as of May 1.

There are few quiet moments even in local politics.

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Will Minorities Run for Board Office in San Mateo County

The hold out county, San Mateo, which was the only county to not elect its supervisors in the district, will now join the rest of California beginning 2014.

The issue of district elections versus at-large has come and gone for over 30 years, but reached another boiling point over the past three years with the combination of a threatened lawsuit against the county for violations of the Voting Rights Act, an advisory letter issued by the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury recommending such a possible change and a recommendation from the County’s Charter Review Commission - an ad hoc advisory board impanelled every eight years to review the county charter. Despite such calls from many corners, the Board of Supervisors staunchly fought such a reform for months but finally relented to at least allow San Mateo County voters to consider the option.

As part of a settlement to the lawsuit filed against San Mateo County over the at-large system of elections for County Supervisors, San Mateo County must empanel a commission to draw new district lines in which supervisors will run beginning in 2014.

Last November, San Mateo County voters approved Measure B which ended at-large or countywide elections in San Mateo County and established district based elections. The measure was placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors in response to the lawsuit brought by several civil rights organizations seeking to end an at-large system viewed as an obstacle to the possible election of underrepresented communities. Prior to the passage of Measure B, San Mateo County was the only California County to use an at-large system to elect county supervisors.

Under the terms of the settlement, an independent committee will conduct a series of public meetings around the County to explain the district system and to receive community input as to where the boundaries of each district should be placed. At the conclusion of that process, perhaps by the end of the summer months, the committee will offer possible recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for consideration for new district lines.

The committee charged with drawing the new supervisorial lines is tasked with taking input from the community and work with a county-hired redistricting expert to ensure that the integrity of neighborhoods and communities of interest are protected. To add a layer of confusion, San Mateo County Supervisors do actually have districts already. Under the County Charter prior to the passage of Measure B, supervisors were required to live in one of five residential districts but were elected at-large. A map of the current districts can be found here.

The committee, according to the settlement, will be comprised of nine San Mateo County residents, four of which will be elected officials. According to news reports, two county supervisors, including Adrienne Tissier and Warren Slocum, may serve on the committee. The remaining five seats will be reserved for members of the public who will be vetted by the San Mateo County League of Women Voters for nomination and subsequently appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The application for the committee opened on February 25 and all candidates must submit their completed applications by March 15. Application is open to all registered voters resident in the county.

Members of the public who are interested in sitting on the committee can obtain an application from the County Manager’s Office, located on the First Floor of the Hall of Justice, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063 or online at: www.smcgov.org/districtlines. The redrawing of district boundaries is the final step in a multi-year effort to change the system of election for county supervisors and could be key to opening the door to otherwise underrepresented communities to elect a representative to the county board. In 157 years of existence, only one African American and one Latino has ever been elected to the Board of Supervisors and no Asian American. This is despite the fact that since 1982, San Mateo County is a majority minority county with Asian Pacific Islanders and Latinos comprising nearly half of the resident population.

The committee will present its recommendations in time for consideration by the Board of Supervisors at its October 8, 2013 meeting. Following that meeting, the Board of Supervisors will make a final decision on district configuration.

With these changes, will Asian and Latino minorities actually run for office now? Let’s see if this becomes a reality in San Mateo County.

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Stalemate in Brisbane - Council vacancy leads to political turmoil

Four members of the Brisbane City Council have deadlocked over the process to fill a council vacancy left by the sudden departure of veteran councilmember Sepi Richardson just prior to the end of the last year. Brisbane is one of the smaller cities located in northern San Mateo County, just north of South San Francisco, with a population of a little over 4,300 residents.

Richardson, who has served on the council since 1995 with one interruption, resigned with just under a year remaining in her term. Richardson’s former colleagues on the council met earlier this month to discuss how to replace her, either by appointment or Special Election. Fulfilling a council vacancy is not unheard of - Pacifica, San Carlos and Atherton have each had to deal with this problem in recent years.

The Pacifica Council in April 2012 agreed to fill Jim Vreeland, a long time Councilmember, with the selected interim appointee until the next election was held in November 2012, a regularly scheduled election, where the appointee runs for election to complete the remaining two years of the term.

The Town of Atherton decided to fill its own vacancy by holding a special mid-term election in June 2008, where James Dobbie was elected to the vacant seat formerly occupied by Alan Carlson.

Additionally, the City of San Carlos was unable reach a decision in May of 2012 on how to fill councilmember Andy Klien’s seat which he vacated for personal reasons in April of 2012. The Council had reached a unique solution to the problem by the unanimous agreement to fill seat with a November 2013 election and appoint an interim member, with the caveat they be asked to not run for the following full term. During a Council debate however, this caveat was pointed out to be unenforceable.

n Brisbane at present, the remaining four councilmembers appear to agree that an appointment to fill the 11 remaining months in the four-year term is likely the best approach, but a split in exactly how to make such an appointment was made public by current Mayor Ray Miller at the last council meeting on January 14.

It appears, according to Miller’s statements, that two councilmembers prefer to constrain an appointment to past councilmembers while two others wish to open the process to any and all eligible applicants – which means any resident of Brisbane who is a registered voter.

The deadlock has potential consequences. The date of Richardson’s resignation, determined to be December 29, 2012, will force the council to either make an appointment, or, by default, defer Richardson’s replacement to the electorate in the November General Election – the natural end of the existing term of the office anyway - within 60 days.

The deadline to make the decision, according to the city attorney, is February 27. A failure to make an appointment by then will potentially lock in a four-member council through November – perhaps.
Oddly, according to city staff, it may be possible to forgo an immediate decision, and allow the seat to be filled through the election that would have happened anyway and perhaps make an appointment later this year to boot. A determination about the legal possibility of a later appointment will be forthcoming at the next council meeting.

Underlying the split on the council regarding whom to appoint is perhaps the most interesting dynamic. By constraining an appointment to only former members of the council, it does limit the options to a handful of possibilities and begs the question about which former councilmembers may already be under consideration.

Brisbane council elections are determined by only a couple of hundred votes but at least two council incumbents have lost reelection bids in the past two elections. Former councilmember Michael Barnes lost reelection in 2009 after serving one term and veteran councilmember Cy Bologoff lost a reelection bid in 2011. Another past council veteran could also include Lee Panza who opted not to seek reelection in 2005.

Whatever the case may be, politics in the tiny hamlet of Brisbane have a bit of big city flavor as of late, and Brisbane has three models to choose from in terms of how to resolve this Council conundrum.

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