Burlingame shapes election format overhaul

The community discussion was the second of its kind, as officials focus on taking input from residents in advance of beginning the process of designing potential maps with boundaries where candidates must live to run for elected office.

Officials plan to spend much of the coming year discussing the matter before ultimately transitioning to district elections next year, as is required according to a settlement with an attorney who threatened to sue the city and force the shift.

Vice Mayor Ricardo Ortiz expressed his dismay with the forced transition, echoing sentiments shared previously by his colleagues who have also begrudgingly accepted the move.

“I find we have to do it and I will go along with it,” he said. “But I do find some of the issues raised will be a problem.”

Among the problems referenced are differences of opinions over how the boundaries of districts should look once a final electoral map is adopted.

Looking to the area east of Highway 101 where land is primarily reserved for development in the city’s lucrative hotel industry, Councilmember Michael Brownrigg questioned how the region should be represented.

Noting there are no residents in the region but a potentially potent business cluster, Brownrigg expressed his discomfort with only one elected official representing the entire area.

“These are powerful financial interests in our city and it makes me uncomfortable to think that one seat would represent those interests,” Brownrigg said, who also nodded to the city’s concentration of car dealerships as another source of representational concern.

Councilmember Donna Colson differed with that opinion, noting that ultimately a majority of the Burlingame City Council would need to endorse any potential policy change. So even if one councilmember was advocating solely for an industry, consensus would need to be reached.

Ortiz concurred, and said he did not agree with Brownrigg regarding the potential conflict of interest.

“I don’t see how that is unfair,” he said.

And while they were aligned on the boundary issue, Ortiz and Colson disagreed over whether Burlingame should introduce an independently elected mayor with the election transition.

Ortiz said he would be interested in examining the issue further, while Colson said she supported keeping the current structure featuring the mayor’s title transitioning throughout the Burlingame City Council.

“The way we have it structured and what we have now is very fair and very effective and I would just continue to support the structure we have now,” she said.

Mayor Ann O’Brien agreed, noting that San Bruno is the only Peninsula city with an independently elected mayor. Beyond that, she felt the rotating title was more equitable and assured fairer representation in all districts across the city.

“I would rather go in a way that is more equalized than an at-large mayor that has a little too much power,” she said.

Regarding concentration of power concerns, Brownrigg also questioned whether officials should consider introducing term limits to the Burlingame City Council.

Fearful that establishing smaller districts may lead to incumbents maintaining a stronghold on elected office, Brownrigg said he would be willing to further explore if caps should be established on the amount of time councilmembers can serve.

“I’m just concerned about one person kind of locking up a neighborhood for a very long time,” he said.

Though the discussion did not advance, O’Brien indicated there will be more time at later meetings to dig into the matters raised, as well as other issues.

“I think there will be a lot of interesting discussions and we will get to a compromise at some point,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com