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Voters in San Mateo County are deciding this November on whether the Board of Supervisors should get extra time to figure out how to fill a seat in an elective office when it becomes vacant.
Currently, whenever a vacancy occurs in an elected position, the board has 30 days to either make an appointment or call for a special election. Measure J on the Nov. 3 ballot proposes doubling the time limit to 60 days and also requiring the board to hold at least one public meeting prior to appointing someone.
The measure was placed on the ballot by the board, as 30 days may be too much of a time crunch to find qualified candidates, interview them and get public feedback if the board decides to fill a vacancy through appointment.
The board experienced the reality of the 30-day timeframe a year ago when it ousted former Sheriff Christina Corpus over misconduct and abuse of authority. Supervisors had to quickly decide whether to appoint her replacement or hold a special election.
Once the board decided to fill the vacancy through appointment, county staff and the board had to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to craft and post the job opening, identify qualified applicants, interview candidates in several rounds, and hold public meetings in a rushed process in order meet the 30-day deadline.
No opposing arguments for Measure J were submitted to the county’s Elections Division.
The measure is a charter amendment that will appear on the ballots of all registered voters in San Mateo County and requires simple majority approval to pass.
Registered voters can submit their ballots until Election Day on Nov. 3. There are currently three vote centers open in the county. Additional centers open this Saturday, Oct. 24, and Oct. 31, bringing the total to 50 vote centers.
A map of vote centers and ballot drop off locations across the county can be found at https://smcacre.gov/elections/vote-center-and-ballot-drop-box-lookup.
This story was written by Alise Maripuu for Bay City News.
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