Belmont to vote on clerk and treasurer

The only qualifications for both positions are that one must be at east 18 years old and live in the city.

Opponents of the measures, on the other hand, see no reason to give up their right to vote on those positions, which are important oversight roles, they argue.

“The measures are bad for democracy. I’m not going to vote to take away my vote,” said Harland Harrison, chair of the county’s Libertarian party. “We want the people protecting the money and protecting the vote to be responsible to us.”

Harrison was confident that the election process would weed out incompetent candidates.

“They may not have the experience or the credentials, but they’ll find out how to do the job and they’ll do it or they won’t get elected,” he said.

Proponents of the measures emphasized the need for the most experienced candidates.

“If you mess up on election law, the stakes are high in terms of legal exposure and in terms of financial penalties,” said Mayor Doug Kim, referring to the role of city clerk. “There’s no other position in City Hall that is required to have the same technical and legal skills as the city clerk when it comes to elections.”

Proponents also argue that it’s much harder to get rid of a bad hire if that person is elected rather than appointed. And they say campaigning is an obstacle for good hires.

“If you have good people in those jobs, it’s a burden for them to have to run for office every four years or whatever the term is,” said Tom McCune, an Infrastructure Ad-Hoc Committee member. “If they’re good at their job and have been there for 10 to 15 years, don’t make them jump through hoops.”

Kim argued that the measures do not compromise independent oversight of city government.

“If your concern is transparency and independent oversight, there are a number of ways to ensure transparency, it doesn’t have to be via an elected official,” he said. “The notion that someone elected by the people or even appointed by a City Council is somehow less political and more independent than a professional hired through the civil service process by an appointed administrative leader is silly to me. The city manager is charged with hiring the best, most qualified people to perform whatever role that job calls for. Politics is probably minimized most when you go through that process.”

Supporters also note that eliminating two elected positions will save the city money in the election process.

Most cities in San Mateo County have decided to make the clerk and treasurer positions appointed rather than elected.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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