The day is fast approaching when your say in our city government via our elected city councilmembers will be reduced by 80%. Deal with it. We hit most of the high points back in October here. Now the city clerk is getting in front of some questions via this blurb in the city e-newsletter–several of which you have to admit are sort of funny/sad:
Here is some information to clear up questions that you may have.
When will the City hold district elections? The City’s first district election will take place on November 8, 2022 for Districts 1, 3, and 5. To review the five districts, go to: https://www.burlingame.org/departments/city_clerk/district_elections/index.php
Do you have to live in the district to run for that Council seat? Yes, you must live in the district to run for that Council seat. This is verified based on your voter registration.
Do you have to live in the district to vote for that Council seat? Yes. Beginning with the November 2022 election, registered voters will only vote for the Council seat that is in their district. Therefore, if you live in Districts 2 or 4, you won’t vote for a Councilmember until November 2024.
When does candidate filing open for the three Council seats on the November 2022 ballot?
Candidate filing (when an individual interested in running for Council pulls their nomination papers and files their Declaration of Candidacy) will open for these three seats in mid-July. All necessary paperwork must be filed with the City Clerk’s Office by mid-August. However, some interested candidates may want to start raising money for their race. This is separate from the candidate filing period and is done by opening a campaign committee with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Additional questions? Reach out to City Clerk Meaghan Hassel-Shearer at mhasselshearer@burlingame.org or at (650) 558-7203
You have to admit, the second and third questions call into question some of our fellow voters' grasp on the electoral process. I'm interested in how a candidates' forum will run–or should it be forums? If candidates are not running against each other since they are in different districts, should they not have their own candidates' night? Do we then have three of those in the Fall? And can we ditch the League of Women Voters as the emcees for these? They seemed particularly clueless in the last few debates. Maybe the city clerk could ask the audience's questions?
One thing to watch will be the campaign donations from within and outside of the shiny new districts. A strong candidate may run in their tiny new district,but raise money from all over town. Here's some background on the new "rules". One thing I will be watching is how much moola comes from outside the city. Recently we saw a carpetbagger, now departed, raise a lot of money from all over the country from people who couldn't find B'game without the map app on their phones.
I hope this giant experiment doesn't unravel in front of our eyes come November.
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