San Mateo County to place four charter change measures on ballot 

The third ballot question will extend the allowable time to appoint a successor to vacant elected positions and the fourth would establish an independent redistricting commission. 

Supervisors considered combining two two amendments to the preamble, bringing the questions in front of voters down to three.

County Attorney John Nibbelin estimated it would cost the county $1,075,000 to pursue four separate charter amendment questions. The price would reduce to about $975,000 if the preamble questions were combined. 

“Savings is savings, no matter how much it is, in my personal opinion,” board President Noelia Corzo said. “For me it makes sense to combine them.” 

While Corzo was in favor of consolidating the measures, both Supervisors Jackie Speier and Lisa Gauthier felt each amendment deserved to be considered on its own. Speier said combining the two would be like “adding apples and oranges together,” and Gauthier agreed. 

“Right now civil rights are under attack,” Gauthier said. “I would love to save money but to keep equity and civil rights in its own container would make more sense.” 

The climate resiliency amendment, if passed, would establish a county policy that “long-term resilience against extreme weather events — including fire, flood, wind, rain, heat, drought, and sea level rise — is a county priority, to be undertaken collaboratively with cities, districts, and other public entities.”

An additional amendment to the preamble, if passed, would add a provision affirming the county’s “commitment to the dignity, civil rights, and equal protection of all county residents in a manner that promotes equity, fairness, inclusion, belonging, accessibility and opportunity.” 

Up for consideration is also an extension in time that the Board of Supervisors can fill a vacancy of an elected office from the current allotment of 30 days to 60 days. The amendment would also require the board conduct a public meeting prior to an appointment. 

Elected positions include district attorney, sheriff, assessor-county clerk-recorder, controller, coroner and tax collector-treasurer. 

The board’s appointment process to fill a vacancy was recently used when the governing body had to fill the position of sheriff after former elected sheriff Christina Corpus was ousted. The limited time frame to open applications and find a suitable successor was restrictive, supervisors said previously. 

The final amendment up for voter consideration is the establishment of an independent redistricting commission to apportion the five supervisorial districts after every 10-year census. 

Despite previously expressing concern of commissioners affecting maps and elections with their own alliances or biases, Supervisor Ray Mueller joined his colleagues to approve placing all amendments on a future ballot. 

Each measure will require majority approval to pass. 

The second reading and final adoption of will be voted upon at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting June 9. This allows staff time to submit the measures to the County Elections Office before the Aug. 7 deadline to qualify for inclusion on the Nov. 3 ballots. 

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