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lYIINUTES Page 13 City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency Joint Meeting-December 6, 2004 pointed out the difference between absentee ballots and mailed ballots for this election is that voters choose to vote by absentee ballot, whereas in this election the voter is not given the choice to vote by n1ailed ballot. Mr. Whitnell stated he had conferred with City Attorney Jayne Williams on the matter. Ms. Williams' opinion was that the postage would not be considered a poll tax because the voter has the option of dropping the ballot off at one of the drop-off locations, and so are not required to pay the postage in order to vote. Council111ember Glaze asked if other cities pay postage for mailed ballots. Ms. Handa noted that the City of Berkeley has conducted several alllllail ballot run-off elections, and it provides Business Reply postage on its ballot envelopes. He asked if there are any cities that do not pay retU111 postage. Ms. Handa stated that she is not aware of any other cities that conduct special run-off elections by all mail ballot. Mayor Young asked if the City could face a lawsuit if it chose not to pay the postage. Mr. Whitnell indicated that, while he could not guarantee that the City would not be challenged, City AttoD1ey Willian1s has researched the issue and detern1ined that it would not be considered a poll tax if the City chose not to pay return postage on the ballot envelopes. Counciln1en1ber Glaze suggested that to avoid any potential problems with the election, the City should pay the return postage. It was the consensus of the Council to direct staff to print a single ballot type and provide Business Reply postage to the ballot envelope. - Adopted with revisions M/S/C Glaze and Santos. Ayes: 7; Noes: 0 1 o. ~~CTION ITEMS Public COllln1ents are lin1ited to 3 111inutes per person per itelll. A. Report on Closed Session Actions Taken Mr. Whitnell reported that the Redevelopn1ent Agency lllet in closed session and voted unanin10usly to authorize the acquisition of 1199 East 14th Street, 210-230 Davis Street and 250-258 Davis Street in an amount not to exceed $745,000. 1. Resolution No. 2004-025 RDA, Resolution of the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Leandro Authorizing Acquisition of 1199 East 14th Street, 210-230 Davis Street, and 250-258 Davis Street (APNs: 075-0001-005, 075-0001-06, 075- 0001-008-02, 075-0001-004) in an An10unt Not to Exceed $745,000 (Seven Hundred Forty-Five Thousand Dollars) (authorizes acquisition of subject