Minutes 2005 0103 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES Page 8 City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency Joint Meeting-January 3, 2005 Mayor Young agreed that when IRV IS available, the Council could return to a November election date. Councilmember Santos stated that he does not see the necessity for addressing the issue at this time. He noted that if the City could utilize the voting system that San Francisco used in its recent election, it would solve the problem. Councilmember Santos suggested deferring the matter until after the completion of the run-off election to allow the candidates involved in the run-off the opportunity to relate to the Council their experience of campaigning for two elections. He expressed concern regarding the cost of running campaigns for two separate elections and suggested that the Council consider campaign spending limits. Mayor Young agreed that campaign reform is a good idea and suggested referring the matter to the Rules and Communications Committee. Councilmember Santos noted that if the General Municipal Election was moved to June, it would extend the campaigning efforts of candidates involved in the run-off for several additional months. Councilmember Grant recalled that when the City's General Election was moved to November, it was in part to take advantage of the higher voter turnout. She expressed interest in Councilmember Santos' idea of observing the full election cycle before attempting to make changes. Councilmember Grant commented that the staff report did not provide full cost information on the various options. Councilmember Glaze noted that one of the reasons for changing the election date was that the date of the Statewide Primary Election kept changing, but the November Election date is always the same. Councilmember Glaze expressed concern that one of the negative aspects of holding the election in November is that partisan politics exerts too much influence on the local election. He also stated that he was not in favor of run- off elections and that the cost of run-off elections is ridiculously high. Councilmember Glaze noted the many factors affecting elections that need to be considered, including the impacts of the all mail ballot and the very high voter turnout in the last Presidential election. He commented that the suggestion to move the City's General Election back to the Primary Election was to allow the City to conform with the requirements of the Charter while the Council analyzed all the various factors and options. Councilmember Grant asked if the election date can be changed again in 2006 if IRV becomes available. Ms. Williams stated that the Council can change the election date by ordinance, but the California Elections Code specifies the number of days prior to the election in which the declaration of election must be made. Mayor Young commented that there does not seem to be any harm in delaying action on the matter. She noted that there are two issues to be addressed: the change in the election date and campaign finance reform. She further noted that the composition of the Rules Committee would soon change due to the replacement of Councilmember Glaze.