A late Friday filing by Steve Duncan to run for a City Council seat means there will be a B'game council election this Fall after all. I speculated on whether anyone would pick up the gauntlet against three incumbents here. Mr. Duncan has decided to do it and will face a tough challenge. He last ran in 2013 and finished seventh in a nine person race. As you see here, he spent $718 on his campaign to garner 392 votes.
Back in 2013, it was Keighran, Brownrigg and Ortiz-- in that order. Given what I would call a fairly easy election, it will be interesting to watch how much effort and money the incumbents expend. On the upside, we will have the usual debate(s), newspaper interviews and endorsements and at least some discussion of hot button issues in town. One the downside, we will start seeing campaign signs right after Labor Day and be stuck with them until November 7.
Per the Secretary of State, on the 82nd day before an election, the Secretary of State conducts a randomized drawing of letters of the alphabet pursuant to California Elections Code section 13112. The resulting order of letters constitutes the "randomized alphabet" to be used for determining the order of candidates' names on the ballot. Therefore we will know the order on Thursday.
Well folks, Bruce Dickinson thinks the Bay Area economy must be booming, where the opportunity cost of holding public office compared to working in the private sector on a full time basis is so high that there appears (so far) to be only one challenger compared to the last election where it was a 9-person brouhaha and a very close contest where the final result between two candidates was literally, a nail-biter. One would think that even the power to influence real estate and local business decisions would be enough of an enticement, but I guess even that is insufficient in this day and age of DOW 22,000.
Still a couple more days left to file, maybe we'll have a few left-field surprises! *wink*
If no one else with a degree of community gravitas decides to run, it really won't be much of a contest and will be the easiest lay-up for the incumbents. The upshots: hopefully minimal campaign signs that stay up for years past the election and no real need for residents to donate to candidates and instead save money for more Philz Coffee, strollers, and yoga pants!
Posted by: Bruce Dickinson | August 14, 2017 at 07:34 PM
Yes please let's not have Keighran signs on every corner of every street and then some. Such an eye sore.
Glad there will at least be another name on the ballot. Hoping for additional challengers.
Posted by: Beenhereforever | August 15, 2017 at 10:06 AM
Bet your elections are as electrifying.
Posted by: Girlfriend of Porky Little | August 16, 2017 at 05:59 PM
I hope one of the issues discussed during the upcoming campaign is how our city can continue harnessing technology to improve efficiency and civic engagement. Here's a low cost open data platform I've mentioned in the past which I would love to see in Burlingame:
https://opengov.com/customers/atherton-california-saves-time-and-improves-communication-with-opengov
Also, on a related note, this looks like an upcoming event at the Commonwealth Club in SF:
https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2017-10-18/anne-marie-slaughter-technology-people
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 24, 2017 at 12:06 PM
Here's another example with an imbedded video tour:
http://muscatineiowa.gov/1152/OpenGov
Posted by: Account Deleted | August 24, 2017 at 06:37 PM