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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1975.12.19Burlingame, December CALL TO ORDER A special meeting of the Burlingamc City Councildate in Conference Roon A of the City Hall. Theorder at 5:10 P.M. by Mayor Irving S, Arstrup. ROLL CALL the above cal led to Counci I Membe rs Counci I Members 0thers Present: Jerome E. Colem Times, Bouti que Counci I, Robe rt Present : Ams tru prCus i ek- Harri ion -Mang i n iAbsent: CroebyCity Manager Charles F. Schwalm, City Attorney, Representati ves of the Press from the San Mateo Vi I i ager, The Leader and Candi date for the City an & F rsse PURP0SE 0F THE MEETING: To consider remaval from the bal "Shal I I ot the i n the of f i ces ofMarch 2,, 7976 Municipil Election the propositionCity Clerk and City Treasurer be appointive. " or Amstrup reported that he had di scussed remoyal of thbposition from the ballot with individual members of the City Counciior to this meeting. He referred to the action talen at thenci I meeting of December l, whereby the pro.position was pl aced on bal lot by rafority decisien of the City Council. However, fromt time-to the present no one has taken out nomination papers forher office. It would appear that people are hesitant abbut be- May pro pri Cou the thaeit os stor sta hi n but coming involved in a pol i ti cal race when there is the pthat all of thei r efforts may be for nau g ht if the electhat the positions shall be appointive. Mayor Amstrupthe eoynci I must con s i der there are tal ented peripl e witgovernment who might be j nterested in seeki ng el ecti on doi ng so, woul d fi nd themse I ves in the position of takithe majori ty will of the City Council that says the pos appoilnti ve. He expres sed the hope tha t the pri or deci swill be reve rsed, that the proposi ti on will be removedthereby encouraging qualified candldates. He mentiondfor consideration - if no one files for the offi ces, aas a wri te. i n candi date, vote for himself and , conceivaon that vote if the el ectorate defeats the propos i ti on. ngiti ionfro ano ci t blv ibilityate deci des ted , too , that City 'bYa stand agai nst ons should beof the Counci l m the bal l ot,ther possibility izen can decl are , win the office 9gllci I nan Mang i ni recai I ed the emotional i mpact that was created in1970 when the electorate was asked to make the two offices appointive.He posed the question will the same situation occur should the Councildecide now to take the proposition off the baliot, keep the officeselective, then in two years pl ace the propos i ti on back on the baliotwhen there will be i ncumbents in offi ce? would resurface. But, el ected on one vote, /, Mayor Amstrup agreed the emotional issue probablyon the other hand, if a write-in candidate can be 13 California l9, 1975 was held on meeti ng was Councilman Harrison asked the City Attorney to discuss conseqences ofIeepi ng the propos i ti on on the bal I ot wi th no candi dates. The City Attorney explained if oo one files by the official deadline, December 30 at 12 noon, the law provides that write-in candidates maydeclare by-February ?3, 1976. If there are no candidates, the City'council fills the positions by appointment or callsfor a special election wi thi n 30 days after the general el ecti on. Further, i n response to Counci I man Harri son concerni ng wri te-i n pro-cedure, the City AttornCy advised there is a form tb be filed v.,i ththe City Clerk's office. Unless that is done by February 23, write-in votes ca,loot be counted. L4 the Counci l of f i ce whe re f unds. certainlythere i s would notthe vi tal want that, especi al ly in the treasurer'sresponsibility of investing the City's Counci lman Mang ini asked is it not so that if the proposi ti on remai ns on the bal l ot, no one fi I es, nor are there wri te-i n candidates ' the positions become appointive? The City Attorney confirmed this was so' Counci lman Cus ick asked if the electorate decides the positions should remain elective, no one runs because of the uncertainty created by the proposi tion, the Counci I deci des to appoi nt the two offi cers , do not the citizens have the right to demand another election? She pointed the City Counci l leaves before his term has the right to fill that vacancy and it t exi sti ng i egi sl ati on provides for the peopl e ough due process. out that when a member expi res , the Ci ty Coun was her understandi ngto demand an el ecti on of ci I thathr Councilman Harrison stated there have been comments to the effect that qualif becausthe prfor ap Counci cannot favor ied people wishing to file nominationspapers may not do so e they would be aebutting Council members who voted to place oposiiion on the bal lot. He poi nted out that he decl ared s trong l y pbi nti ve ci erk and treasurer. There were other opi ni ons on the i tnat the decision should rest with the people. He stated he reconcile the argument that the City Council is declaring.in of making the positions appointive; the tenor of the majority opi ni on appeared to be Iet the peopl e deci de. l,layor Amstrup stated two members of the Councl l opposed. pI ac i ng the isiue on the ballot in an effort to retain elective offices. councilman cus.ick stated that, as a result of this present discussion incumUent officers and the electorate can be alerted to the possibility that the offi ces may become appoi nti ve i n I978. Councilman 14angini agreed with Counci lman Cusick that forewarning -corld mitigafe emoti6nal reactions. He stated there may be logical reasons foi not making the positions elective but, for the moment' failed to see any good selling arguments for either elective or appoi nti ve. Mayor Amstrup asked for a commi tment from members present on whether thL proposition shall remain on the bailot or'be.,renoved. He rei tlrated his pos iti on that the offi ce s remai n e lecti ve , sugges ti ng that anyone chobsing to run be informed that a new city council in two yea-rs may decidE to go to the electorate for a mandate supporting appo i ntmen ts. Councilman Harrison asked if the present City Council by resolution can set a date in March , I978 to present the proposi tion to the voters. The City Attorney doubted thii could be done by the present CounciI. Mayor Amstrup pointed out that two members runni ng for re-el ecti on, one member deci de wav of forecastinq at this time what a cit yeirs . He suggesIed tha t Counci lman Harri 1978. The City Attorney mentioned the possibility of electioir v{ith the June Pri mary in the event the remove the propos i t i on from the March bal l ot. Counci lman Harri son asked if the Counci I can take an acti on at this meeti ng i ndi cati ng its i ntent to submi t the proposition^in June if nothin! decisive iesults from the March election. The City Attorney- notea Ifis meeting is a special meeting called for the one purpose of consideri ng removil of the proposi tion from the March bal lot; the Counci I may act only on that subject' Cr E-! \ Councilman Cusick *el-t- it would be much more costly to consolidate with the Primary than to €€-l+--a-+Pec-i+t--nfrrci1rl:T+Tt-ion-. ), -il.--i.1 '!:'' \"' ' \'-- '- ct- *r'.'. .'' ' ^'..'- s'-\ s'''\ d v s of the present Counci I are not to run. There is no council will do in two on mi ght rai se the issue in consol i dati Ci ty Counc ngil an wi shed to 15 Councilman Harrison stated that delaying a vote on the proposition fortwo years probably would not eliminate the emotional factor, It mightnot be as i ntense as in 1970, because the i ncumbents then had been inoffice for many years and developed a fol I owi ng. He asked if thequestion of elective vs. appointive treasurer is truly a matter of greatconcern. Admittedly, the treasurer has the responsibi lity of investing !he City's funds, but in an appointive situation, the City Council hasfinal authority. It can keep a tight rein on the treasurLr and demandhe be bonded. Councilman Cusick reminded that the electorate voted 2 to 1 in .l970 tomaintain the two positions elective, notwithstanding any emotional issuethat may have been involved. If that happens aEi n,,there must bequaiified candidates who can campaign and not be worried about spending money in a fruitless effort because of the proposition being on the ballot. Counci lman Harri son ag reed wi th Counci lman Cusi ck with respect to the need for qualified people, but he was not certain that elections alwaysproduce the most qual i fi ed, He fel t there were better opportuni ti esthrough the appointive process. He noted that in l970 23 to 24-1 /2%of the eligibles voted. The emotional issue brought out that vote, which would not appear to be a two to one majority of al l of theelectorate, Counci lman Cusi ck stated that even though this Ci ty Counci I cannot nakethe commitment to place the proposition on the ballot in two years, the notes of this meeting will show that the subject was discussed at lergLh, and that there was a feel i ng that appoi nti ve vs. el ecti ve in two years will not be as emotionally charged as in i970. Stating that two years in the future.. the City Council can ask the people for a mandate, she expressed the opinion that people are becoming very con- cerned about their roie in government and that in a city such as Bur- I i ngame the re will be qual i fi ed peopl e who wi lI run for the offi ces. Mayor Amstrup moved to remove the proposition "ShalI the offices ofCity Clerk and City Treasurer be appointive" from the March 2,1976ballot, Motion seconded by Councilman Cusick, 0n the question, Counci I man Harri son s tated he was aware of otherpossibilities in terms of someone filing a declaration of intent forwrite-in on February ?3, either by convincing people on staff to do this,or other people, perhaps, who might be interested in a shorter campaignto offset someone coming in under the wire. He advised he has thought about the proposition very seriously within the last two days and based on conversations he has had, believed it better at this time to leave the proposition on the ba ll ot. There was a tie vote on the moti on: Robert Fisse,3035 Trousdale Drive, suggested the possibility of earlyreti rement of the two i ncumbents and the Counci I appoi nti ng peopl e to compiete their terms; the individuals, then, could run as qualified i ncumbents. Respectf ul ly submi tted , HERBERT K. t^lHITE, CITY CLERK ,,.L..--Z.'/,l( Ai tyDe'p uty Clerk Counci 1 Members Aye: Amstrup-Cusick Counci I Members No: H a r r i s o n - M a n g i n i Counci I Member Absent: Crosby Result: Proposition shall remain on the ballot. ADJ0URNI4ENT: At 5 :35 P.14. )