District elections shift

But beyond whatever changes might await us, a fundamental shift in our local politics already is underway with the increasing shift to district elections.

Burlingame and San Bruno announced recently that they would move to district elections by 2022. In Burlingame’s case, they had received the same legal threat that has prompted cities all over California to switch. San Bruno didn’t wait for a lawsuit, kind of like handing the schoolyard bully your lunch money before first period.

Then there’s Redwood City, which will have its first district election this year. At this early stage it looks as though the city will be a poster child for why the effort to increase the number of minority officeholders is a long, hard slog with an inevitable outcome.

The shift to elections by district is intended to eliminate the barriers to minority candidates posed by an at-large system. Under the at-large system, minority-dominated communities and neighborhoods often are marginalized and underrepresented. The trade-off is the likelihood elected officials will tend more to their districts and be less concerned about anything that extends beyond their own parochial interests.

So far, in a limited sample size, district elections are a mixed bag of influence and effectiveness.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors went first, switching to district elections back in 2012, to little effect. This year, three incumbents, none of them a minority, were re-elected unopposed. On the other hand, Supervisor Warren Slocum, one of the unchallenged incumbents, is credited widely with an unprecedented level of attentiveness to his Latino-heavy south county district, and no one accuses him of ignoring countywide or regional issues.

The San Mateo County Community College District switched over in time for the 2018 election and the political effect was equally negligible — two incumbents ran against each other in the same district.

The 2018 election in Menlo Park was the first time we saw the full impact of elections by district — two incumbents were defeated by minority candidates. The insurgent effort was aided considerably by the small size of the city’s five districts — small enough that candidates could knock on every door more than once.

A LARGE AND COMPLEX CITY: In Redwood City, the City Council struggled to devise a set of maps for its seven districts and after some false starts, created two districts in which Hispanic voters are the majority. The filing period only opens in July, so it’s still quite early, but as of now, no Hispanic is running in the two districts.

District 4, one of the minority-majority, districts, covers lower Redwood City and straddles El Camino Real, is 77% Hispanic and has no incumbent. The only candidate running is Planning Commissioner Michael Smith. Smith, an African American, has an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a graduate degree from New York University. In the district, only 15% have a college degree.

Incumbent Janet Borgens is seeking her second term in District 3, which covers the southeastern sections of Redwood City, is 71% Hispanic. As of now, she is unopposed.

For all the efforts to put Redwood City Latinos in a position to win, there is no small irony that the only Latina on the council, incumbent Alicia Aguirre, is the only candidate currently facing a challenge. She is running for re-election in District 7, which covers the western hills of the city, is 72% white and is the second-wealthiest district in the city. She is facing two challengers so far — Planning Commissioner Rick Hunter, who lost in the 2018 at-large election by 342 votes, and soon-to-be-retired Redwood City police Officer Chris Rasmussen.

Switching to district elections is not a magic wand and it doesn’t compensate for the systemic political dilution of minority communities, and it does not suddenly provide a base of experience and donors upon which a candidacy can be built. This is what comes from a government infrastructure that is short on minorities. Council candidates usually emerge from prior experience on a city board or commission. Redwood City’s lineup is woefully short in this area. As one city insider put it, the Latino community has no bench from which to elevate would-be candidates. 

All that will change. Candidates will no longer have to rely on the traditional paths to office or have to develop a citywide profile. There is always grumbling from some that these changes are unnecessary. But if you look at who lives where and who gets elected, there’s only one conclusion that can be drawn: District elections will do what they are intended to do.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.