San Mateo’s proposed changes on filling councilmember vacancies and conducting mayoral rotations are heading to the ballot this year, with the City Council still determining the best way to present the amendments to voters for the optimal chance of success.
Over the past year, the council has discussed ways to solidify certain rules around mayoral rotation and council vacancies. Just a few months ago, the council green lit some of staff’s recommendations, which would codify the rotational sequence as a charter amendment, rather than relying on the assumption councilmembers will appoint the upcoming mayor due to historical precedent.
The amendments would also update the process by which councilmember vacancies are filled if it occurs in the middle of their term. Rather than allowing the mayor to appoint a vacant seat if the council is deadlocked, the council would vote on the new member, and a special election would take place if they are unable to do so within 60 days of the vacancy.
But the changes run parallel to less controversial proposals, such as updating outdated language around election requirements for candidates and parameters surrounding emergency ordinances. The council could opt to pack all of the changes into one ballot measure or have voters select their preferences on the issues separately, City Attorney Prasanna Rasiah said.
“You don’t have to divide it, but if you don’t divide it, then some components of the charter amendments that the public has more concern about could sink or prevent the passage of other charter amendments that are more benign,” Rasiah said. “It’s not legally required. It’s more of a strategy.”
The decision will be particularly strategic, as the council must also put forward a housing-related ballot measure this November to amend Measure Y — which caps height and density limits in the city — to stay compliant with its housing element, a state-mandated blueprint on how the city will plan for a certain amount of housing growth over the next eight years. The addition of too many ballot measures could cause voter fatigue, potentially risking the measures’ chances of success, Rasiah said.
Most councilmembers leaned toward splitting the proposed amendments into two separate ballot measures, which would likely result in at least three local-level ballot measures for voters this November.
“I agree with the recommendation to divide the amendments. On top of the fact that one may be more high profile than the other, you put them together, and that is pages and pages of information, and people’s eyes would just glaze over,” Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash said.
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