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The Menlo Park City Council may vote at a special meeting Wednesday, Oct. 4, to begin changing the way council members are elected.
The city is on a rushed timeline to show it’s making moves to change its voting system. It faces an Oct. 5 deadline after receiving a letter from a law firm in Malibu threatening a lawsuit unless the city switches from at-large to district elections.
The letter alleges that Menlo Park’s voting system is racially polarized and results in a dilution of the “ability of Latinos and African Americans (each a ‘protected class’) to elect candidates of their choice or otherwise influence the outcome of Menlo Park’s council elections.”
So far, no city has successfully legally defended its “at-large” election system from such a lawsuit, according to City Attorney Bill McClure in a staff report. In 2012, San Mateo County became the last county in the state to switch to “by district” elections for its Board of Supervisors, he said.
Under the California Voting Rights Act, for a lawsuit to succeed, the plaintiff is not required to prove that voters or elected officials are intentionally discriminating against a “protected class” – a term that refers to a group of people with a common characteristic who are legally protected from discrimination on the basis of that characteristic.
A lawsuit must show only that there is “racially polarized” voting within the city, or that racial majority voters’ preferred candidates differ from those of racial minorities, according to the letter’s author, attorney Kevin Shenkman.
The council has a couple of options for a future election system. It could switch to a “by-district” or a “from-district” voting system, said Mr. McClure.
A “by-district” system would be the only sure-fire way to avoid a lawsuit, he reports. The city would be divided into geographic districts. The voters in each district would elect one council member from among candidates who reside in that district.
A “from-district” system would allow all registered voters in the city to vote to fill all five council seats, but each seat would represent a different district in the city. The candidates would have to reside in the district they represent. This system is not immune to legal challenge, however, Mr. McClure reported.
There’s also a question of whether the mayor should be elected as a separate position, or whether the title should be rotated among the council members, as it is now.
One option in a by-district system would be to have a separate at-large position for the mayor and elect the other council members from four districts.
Otherwise, the city would likely be divided into five districts and the mayor chosen on a rotating basis. The council could also consider changing the number of its members, expanding the body to seven or even nine, but that would likely have to be brought before voters, Mr. McClure reported.
Currently, Menlo Park’s mayor is picked by a council vote and generally follows a rotation, with priority given to the council member who hasn’t served as mayor or has gone the longest without serving.
There are other systems such as ranked-choice voting and cumulative voting, Mr. McClure said, but Menlo Park can’t pursue those because it is a “general law” rather than a charter city, meaning the city constitution has some specific policies that don’t allow for alternative voting systems.
Mr. McClure recommended that the council consider one or more of four actions at its Oct. 4 meeting:
● Adopt a resolution declaring intent to transition to a by-district election system.
● Authorize City Manager Alex McIntyre and Mr. McClure to negotiate and contract with the National Demographics Corp. to look into a by-district election system. That firm is the “preeminent demographic company” working to switch California cities and school districts to by-district elections, Mr. McClure reports.
● Direct Mr. McIntyre and Mr. McClure to look into “from-district” elections in 2018.
● Dedicate up to $75,000 to cover the costs of the above actions.
The special council meeting on Oct. 4 begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Menlo Park Council Chambers at 701 Laurel St. in the Civic Center. Access the agenda here.
• Earlier story: Menlo Park: Move to district elections or face lawsuit, law firm says
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Probably the right call to go with by-district elections, although the data in the report is from the 2010 Census. I wonder how much that has changed since then, with the new apartments and possibly some tech employees buying Belle Haven homes? A Council district for that side of the freeway might be more competitive than some neighborhood advocates think.
Drew Combs did better than Taylor overall, but he had poor performance in Belle Haven. Keith and Ohtaki got more votes in Belle Haven than Combs. With a few months on the Planning Commission, with a law degree, Combs appeal was city-wide.
Nicholas Jellins, a practicing lawyer who served as Chair of the Planning Commission, was elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002. In both elections Jellins came in second place in Belle Haven. Jellins served as mayor three times.
Billy Ray White, an engineer at Raychem who lived in Belle Haven, was elected in 1978 and reelected in 1982. White had run previously, but lost, he was elected after serving as Chair of the Planning Commission. White served as mayor three times.
Candidates from Belle Haven do better with Belle Haven voters. Black candidates with advanced degrees and Chair of Planning Commission on their CV get elected, but do poorly in Belle Haven.
While we are at it, let’s just pick apart the whole system.
The recent approvals of the Stanford Project and 1300 EC have shown the current council to be lacking in creativity and backbone.
The issues facing MP are complex with many variables. The current council is made up of good people but we need a better way to prepare for the next 20-30 years. I like the idea of city council members from different districts but this also brings potential conflict as council representatives will try to sway interests that pertain to their individual district by supporting their colleagues interest in their own district. It’s almost better if the citizens come up with a road map and the council members follow accordingly.
I like the idea of a diverse city council and hope a council member by district moves toward that end. Hopefully the new council members will be innovative and possess the ability to create win-win solutions.
For another post……The next wave of council members needs to make the meetings and voting on issues to be done via mobile and new technology. Many intelligent people live in this community and they can’t make a 6 or 7pm meeting as they have work and families. Our biggest issues need to be presented clearly and the citizens given time to speak their mind prior to the meetings. A special independent board dedicated to serve the wishes of the citizens should monitor these comments and creative, thoughtful answers should be presented.