RulesCommunications Highlights 2007 1101

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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL RULES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE November 1, 2007 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. San Leandro City Hall 835 East 14th Street San Leandro, California (City Manager's Large Conference Room) HIGHLIGHTS Committee Members: Mayor Tony Santos (Chair), Councilmembers Michael Gregory and Joyce Starosciak City Staff: Marian Handa, Steve Hollister, Kathy Ornelas, Stephanie Stuart Public: Councilmember Jim Prola The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. 1. Update on Instant Run-off Voting Assistant City Manager Hollister stated that staff will continue to apprise the Committee on the status of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) until early 2008, when the recommendation to the City Council will need to be made regarding whether or not to use IRV for the 2008 municipal election. City Clerk Handa provided an update on the status of the Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) system. The system, developed by Sequoia Voting Systems, is currently undergoing federal testing. A recent request was made by a local IRV advocacy group to the Secretary of State to consider performing simultaneous State testing on the Sequoia IRV system in order to ensure its certification in time for use in the June 2008 election. At the Committee's request, Ms. Handa provided a cost comparison of conducting a general election and runoff election vs. conducting an IlZV election. Chair Santos suggested looking into assessing candidates an additional charge for IRV, since they would be saving money by having only one election. Committee Member Starosciak stated that she felt it would be unfair to charge candidates for the cost of IRV, and indicated that she preferred instead to return to plurality elections. Committee Member Gregory asked if there was a way to reduce the costs of an IRV election. Ms. Handa noted that some of the costs, such as voter outreach, are discretionary and could be