COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Counsel

 

DATE:

December 1, 2010

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 14, 2010

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

No

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Michael P. Murphy, County Counsel

SUBJECT:

Resolution Calling Election to Fill Vacancy On Board of Supervisors for District 1

 

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution calling a special election to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors for District 1 resulting from the resignation of Supervisor Mark Church.

 

BACKGROUND:

Supervisor Mark Church, who was elected Assessor- County Clerk- Recorder at the June 8, 2010 election, has submitted a letter of resignation which creates a vacancy on the Board as of noon January 3, 2011. County Charter section 203, as recently amended effective November 30, 2010, requires an election to fill the vacancy if the vacancy occurs any time on or before October 15th of the third calendar year of a term. The Board must call the election within 30 days of the effective date of the vacancy; if the Board does not do so, the County Elections Official must immediately call the election. If an irrevocable letter of resignation is submitted with a deferred resignation date, the Board may call the election without waiting for the effective date of the resignation.

 

The newly amended charter also provides, in pertinent part, that:

   

Ÿ

The special election may be conducted as an all-mailed ballot election, at the discretion of the Board or the County Elections Official, as applicable.

Ÿ

The special election must be held not less than 102 days and not more than 131 days from the order calling the election, except that it may be held on an election date regularly established by general law if that date falls within 180 days from the order calling the special election.

Ÿ

The candidate receiving the highest number of votes, irrespective of whether a majority of votes are received, is elected for the remainder of the term.

Ÿ

For purposes of determining the number of consecutive terms that a member of the Board of Supervisors may serve any person elected to fill a vacancy on the Board will be considered to have served one full term if there are two or more years remaining in the term determined as of the date of election to fill the vacancy.

DISCUSSION:

The effective date of the vacancy is January 3, 2011; accordingly, the Board needs to order an election no later than February 2, 2011. Because Supervisor Church has submitted an irrevocable letter of resignation, the election can be ordered now. The following is a summary of options open to the Board:

 

A.

Special Election Using Polling Places.

If the Board calls a special election at today’s meeting, the available Tuesday dates within the 102 to 131 day range for the election are: March 29, 2011, April 5, 2011, April 12, 2011 and April 19, 2011.

 

The Board can also pick an election date regularly established by general law within a 180 day window. Both March 8, 2011 and June 7, 2011 are regular election dates that fall within the window. If either March 8, 2011 or June 7, 2011 are selected, there is a possibility that the special election could be consolidated with another election held within the County, which might result in some cost savings. At this juncture, we do not know of any election that will be held on either date. The last date that another election could be consolidated with a March 8, 2011 special election is December 10, 2010. We will provide the Board with an update of that election information at the meeting. The Elections Official has estimated the costs for calling a special election to be $1.6 million, assuming that no other items are on the ballot.

 

A proposed resolution for the Board’s adoption that orders a special election using polling places is set forth in Resolution A.

 

B.

All-mailed Ballot Special Election.

Approximately 43% of the registered voters in the county are permanent absentee voters, and thus vote by mail. In the election held November 2, 2010, 52% of registered voters requested to vote by mail and approximately 69% of these voters actually voted. Charter section 203, as amended, authorizes the Board to call an all-mailed ballot election to fill the vacancy on the Board. The election date (defined as the last date the elections office can receive a mailed or dropped-off ballot) would be one of the following Tuesdays: March 29, 2011, April 5, 2011, April 12, 2011 and April 19, 2011. An all-mailed ballot election could also be conducted on May 3, 2011, an election date regularly established by general law for all-mailed ballots. The elections office estimates the cost of an all-mailed ballot election to be $1.1 million.

 

A proposed resolution for the Board’s adoption that orders a special election using all-mailed ballots is set forth in Resolution B.

 

Approval of this action will contribute to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Collaborative Community by ensuring that the process of filling a vacated Board seat is done promptly and efficiently with due consideration given to ensuring representation for the 1st District on the Board of Supervisors.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

A special election using polling places will cost an estimated $1.6 million. The cost of an all-mailed ballot election is estimated to be $1.1 million.