Races set in county elections

Over the last five days a handful of new people signed on to run for various position while one potential candidate withdrew his application.

Voters in San Mateo, Burlingame and San Bruno will be electing new councilmembers, and seats are open on the San Mateo-Foster City and San Carlos elementary school district board of trustees.

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, will be one of the last remaining odd-year races in San Mateo County as jurisdictions align with a new statewide law requiring even-year elections.

Since last Friday’s deadline for incumbents, San Bruno saw the most interest with newcomers joining what otherwise would have been uncontested elections. San Bruno is unique in San Mateo County as voters decide the mayoral position, unlike other local cities where councilmembers rotate as mayor. Seeking the position are Rico E. Medina, a current councilmember, and Annette Zink, a property manager, according to records filed with the San Mateo County Election’s Office.

Three are now seeking two terms on the San Bruno City Council, as candidates include customer service partner Laura Davis, nonprofit manager Marco Durazo, and information technology manager Michael Salazar, according to the Election’s Office.

San Bruno’s deadline was extended after Mayor Jim Ruane opted to step down after nearly eight years as mayor and 22 years on the City Council. Vice Mayor Ken Ibarra will also not seek re-election, closing a chapter on his 21-year service on the council. Those running this year will only be granted three-year terms, instead of the normal four years, after the city opted to shorten new terms in lieu of extending existing ones, to meet the state’s even-year elections requirement. The same will go for the other two council seats when they are up for election in 2019.

San Mateo voters will be choosing three councilmembers to serve five-year terms, assuming they also pass a charter amendment designed to meet the state’s requirements. With Mayor David Lim opting not to seek re-election, the filing deadline was extended and the pool of candidates has also grown.

Seven are now vying for three seats. Candidates include incumbent Rick Bonilla, who’s seeking re-election; Chelsea Bonini, president of the elementary school board; Mark De Paula, a retired businessman; Charlie Drechsler, an arborist and current city planning commissioner; incumbent Joe Goethals, a deputy district attorney; Robert Newsom Jr., a businessman; and Eric Rodriguez, who runs an education technology company and is vice chair of the planning commission.

As a charter city, San Mateo also has a ballot measure to extend council terms by a year to meet the even-year requirements. Voters will also consider a second proposed charter amendment described as a “cleanup” measure to correct provisions that conflict with state law or that are outdated, according to the city.

The Burlingame City Council race has been set since last week with three seats sought by four candidates. Incumbents Michael Brownrigg, Ann Keighran and Ricardo Ortiz will seek re-election while assistant retail manager Steve Duncan aims to unseat one of them.

There’s steep competition in the race for three seats on the five-member Foster City-San Mateo Elementary School District Board of Trustees after Bonini, Ed Coady and Lory Lorimer Lawson opted not to seek re-election.

Those looking to serve the school district include social worker and political activist Noelia Corzo, technology executive Alexander Haislip, early education director Rebecca Hitchcock, real estate agent Shiraz Kanga, certified public accountant Thomas Morgan, management consultant Jacob Thiel, and education consultant Shara Watkins. Foster City Councilman Herb Perez had pulled papers to run for a spot on the school board, but withdrew his application to run this week, according to the Election’s Office.

Four are still seeking three seats on the San Carlos Elementary School District Board of Trustees with incumbents Carol Elliott and Kathleen Farley running against, attorney Neil Layton and lawyer Thomas Vigdal. Although last week’s deadline was extended to Wednesday after Nicole Bergeron opted not to seek re-election, no one else signed on for this year’s race.

The race was also set last week for the Burlingame School District Board of Trustees with four seeking three seats. Candidates include Kay Coskey and Davina Drabkin who are seeking re-election, appointed incumbent Douglas Luftman, and scientist Elizabeth Kendall.

Burlingame residents will also have a quarter-cent sales tax measure to consider. The city has suggested the locally-controlled revenue could be used toward infrastructure improvements and financing construction of a new recreation center. As a general sales tax, it will require a simple majority of voters to approve.

Visit shapethefuture.org for more information about the candidates and the Nov. 7 election. 

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106

Twitter: @samantha_weigel