Half Moon Bay is moving away from at-large mayor

“You could argue we are moving back, but we never actually made the switch, so we have never had an at-large mayor,” Nisbet said.

A slim council majority selected a five-district map for upcoming council elections recommended by its Redistricting Advisory Committee that prioritized keeping similar communities together, despite some councilmembers’ pushback.

“I support the committee and its recommendation, and I want to continue to keep my fingerprints off what they feel is the best map and go with that and preserve the integrity of that,” Councilmember Robert Brownstone said.

A council majority voted for a five-district map dividing Half Moon Bay called 504c over a map with four districts based on the preference of the Redistricting Advisory Committee. The seven-person citizen committee was responsible for studying and coming up with several map options over the past six months for new council election boundaries. The committee recommended the five-district option over four districts because it better represents communities of interest. The current model includes four districts and an elective mayor with a four-year term voted on in 2018. The committee was responsible for presenting map options to the council.

Redistricting is done every 10 years with new census data. Nisbet said Half Moon Bay redistricted in 2018, but the new 2020 census data meant it had to redistrict again just a few years later. He noted changes in state law criteria factored into the council reconsidering a change. All five current councilmembers live in separate districts, meaning none will have to run against each other under the new map.

The city will hold a Feb. 15 public hearing for map selection and election sequencing, followed by ordinance adoption March 15 to ensure it is in place for November elections.

Survey results

Mayor Debbie Ruddock and Vice Mayor Deborah Penrose supported a map with four districts and an at-large mayor for future council elections. Ruddock cited a community outreach survey that garnered 350 responses found 51% favored four districts with a two-year mayor and 18% favored four districts with a four-year mayor. Around 31% favored five districts. The city sent a survey to each household in Half Moon Bay.

“Sixty-nine percent of those participating in the survey wanted four districts. They wanted fewer districts, and 69% wanted to elect Half Moon Bay’s mayor. That’s pretty overwhelming,” Ruddock said.

She said the best way to avoid political fragmentation was a directly elected mayor who could balance the potential increase in power of long-tenured city staff. She worried about more volatile city elections and cited her experience with politics and power relationships.

“I think it creates more stability and gives the mayor a chance to further advance the whole council’s missions and keep everybody on track to representing the community,” Ruddock said.

Penrose agreed with Ruddock and favored four districts and a mayor elected for two years to be the unifying voice. She was against redistricting and was interested in fighting the issue in court.

“I think 69% of 350 people is a statement. I don’t think you can ignore it. “If it was 52%, I might have some problems with it, but it wasn’t. It was 69%,” Penrose said.

Committee recommendation

Councilmembers Joaquin Jimenez, Robert Brownstone and Harvey Rarback thought differently and followed the Redistricting Committee suggestion. Rarback favored keeping the Canada Cove area together with the South Main Street senior area to give the senior community a unified voice.

“I am all in favor of [map] 504c. I’m really thankful to the committee for producing that map,” Rarback said.

Ruddock asked the council for its reasoning in not giving further weight to the community survey. Jimenez noted it was not a direct representation of the community, while Brownstone called it too small to make particular conclusions. Rarback said the Redistricting Advisory Committee unanimously endorsed the five district model, and he valued its judgment.

“I have more respect for them, in this particular case, than the 350 responses we got,” Rarback said.

Transition

Half Moon Bay voted in 2018 to transition to district elections after threats of litigation under the California Voting Rights Act from Southern California attorney Kevin Shenkman. Shenkman claimed the city has violated the California Voting Rights Act because “voting in Half Moon Bay is racially polarized, resulting in minority vote dilution.” A district-based election will divide the city into a set number of districts, with one councilmember living in the district chosen by voters residing in that area. Voters would only be able to vote within their area. Districts must be contiguous, not be drawn with race as the predominant factor, have a nearly equal population and keep communities of interest together.

Each district has around 2,300 to 2,400 people and has a white plurality. Districts 2 and 3 have 41% and 39% Hispanic populations, respectively, the largest of the five districts. District 1 has a Hispanic population of 28%, District 5, 24% and District 4, 17%. The Asian population ranges from 6% to 10%, and the Black population is 1%.

The council voted 3-2 to bring the 504c map back for final council adoption, with Penrose and Ruddock voting against it. The city must adopt the final map no later than April 17.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102