2022 Council non-races are decided. Decidedly concerning.

Very few people seem happy about moving to district-based elections for city council or school boards, but nobody has a plan for changing the state legislation loophole that a SoCal lawyer crawled through to force this on us.  We discussed the 80% voter suppression this generates for the Burlingame city council here.  Last night was the perfect example of the problem.  Incumbents Ricardo Ortiz and Michael Brownrigg walked back into their seats in District 1 and 3 unopposed.  But the oddest thing was the result in District 5 where Rachel Cyr remained on the ballot even though she put out a social media message withdrawing from the race EIGHT WEEKS ago.  (One of the nice things about the Voice is you can go back in time and see these sorts of things--see the Sept. 1 comment on the old post.)  That was too late to get her name off the ballot.

The concerning thing is that after withdrawing, sending out no mailers - snail mail or otherwise--having no lawn signs, knocking on no doors, appearing at no candidates' forums and having a couple of local papers note the withdrawal, 236 people in District 5 still voted for her as of the first 8:10 pm tally last night!  Talk about a "threat to democracy" election.  This is the closest vote to your doorstep you can cast.  C'mon people, let's pay attention.  Please?  This afternoon the total for Cyr is 302.  Just doing the quick math, if this had been the old city-wide election, we might have 5 x 302 = 1510 people not paying attention but voting anyway.  That is a third of the actual voters!

Comments

[JP]

If you think voter ignorance is bad now wait until there are 10 new high density apartment buildings with little tiny apartments filled with people who are just passing through Burlingame. One of my local friends keeps track of how many people he walks past that keep their head down and scurry by. It's growing. The developers and the council toadies are already putting us on a path to be SF. Saw a stinky homeless dude today but he only had one bottle of beer with him. Deal with it.

[Joe]

I guess things could be even less convincing:

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Representative Tony DeLuca, a Democrat, was re-elected to the state House despite the fact that the 85-year-old died from lymphoma in October.

Early voting numbers Tuesday indicated that Mr. DeLuca, a Democrat, had a sizable lead over Green Party challenger Zarah Livingston. Mr. DeLuca, the longest-serving member of the state House of Representatives, died last month at age 85 from lymphoma. It was too late to change the election ballots or change the candidate running for the 32nd District, which includes Penn Hills, Verona, parts of Plum and Oakmont.

The election a candidate posthumusly is certainly not without precedent. in the 2020 election, late North Dakotan Republican David Andahl beat longtime incumbent Jeff Delzer to win a seat in the House of Representatives one month after his death.

And, of course, in 2000, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan was elected to the U.S. Senate three weeks after his death in a plane crash.
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So, there you have it.

[Joe]

And another pointed but insightful letter to the editor of the WSJ from a Floridian:

Ms. Noonan’s column took me back to my earliest voting experience, when I was advised by my Dad never to put that little sticker on my shirt. His vision was certainly prescient. He went on to explain that if that little sticker reminded someone to vote, more than likely that vote would be an ill-informed one. He elaborated that if you can’t even remember when to vote, chances are your position isn’t well-formulated. Word to the wise.

Dave Wood

[Trump2024]

You are completely oblivious to how statistics work. You could have a baloney sandwich as a candidate and it will still get a large percentage of the vote.

Also, district elections are good for democracy not bad—stop with the misinformation. Plenty of case studies and data support this.

If you have an issue, throw your hat in the ring and run for office.

The fact that people don’t vote or that no one else decided to challenge Brownrigg or Ortiz are different issues. Quite frankly, the problem is with how the districts were formed or gerrymandered by the current council.

We need to implement maps by people such as the initiative by the league of women voters.

Stop whining old man.

[Howard C]

You got the old man part right. The rest is just BS.

Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier

[Joe]

Thanks @Trump2024. You have unwittingly provided a perfect example of a low-information voter advocating for something that is impossible. I could not "throw my hat in the ring" because I live in District 4 which did not have an election this time around. You are spouting off about something without doing a lick of homework. Nice job.

Here are the districts. I'd love to have you tell us how this was "gerrymandered". Can't wait for your next screw-up:

https://bgmaps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=e1f007e6deaf4abe9b4d92f7f5f88ebc

[Paloma Ave]

It appears Trump2024 & Howard C have an issue with us 'experienced seniors' expressing an opinion.

How noble of them.

[resident]

The voter suppression is one thing. You have identified an even more pernicious effect. Candidate suppression.

[resident]

There are three House races in California that still have not been called. The election was two weeks ago. Guess which party's candidates are leading in all three?

[Cassandra]

“Millbrae to discuss removing district-based elections”

The Daily Post reports that Millbrae Councilmember Gina Papan says a recent California Supreme Court ruling “opens the doors for city like ours” to consider the possibility of moving back to at-large voting systems. The article states “she added that removal of district elections would give voters a larger selection of candidates from which to choose.”

How do we get Gina Papan on the Burlingame City Council?

Weekend Daily Post page 4 March 23-24, 2024

[Man Up Burlingame]

If our city council had manned up in the first place and said Go ahead and sue us we could have saved all this BS. The hack lawyer would have moved on to some other sucker city. So much employee time and energy wasted to move to a terrible situation.

Such weak kneed leadership. It's the same with all of the BS housing rules being jammed down our throats and the global warming hand wringing. Man up Brownrigg. Man up Ortiz (ha!). Man up Beach, Colson and Stevenson. Well maybe not Stevenson since he got his seat the easy way.

[Peter Garrison]

Now Foster City’s City Council is retreating from favoring electric reach codes as having “…cost barriers that make sweeping electrification mandates practically untenable.“

Mayor Patrick Sullivan is quoted: “You’re talking about a substantial amount of money that probably a senior citizen would not have, nor would a city want to be involved in loaning $20,000-$30,000 to upgrade an electrical (system).”

Councilmember Jon Froomin said, “I don’t see how we can look at reach codes reaching beyond with the state is offering if we can’t supply the power. It puts the cart before the horse. I think we need to engage with PG&E and determine if there’s the ability to add the capacity, how long that will take, and what their plan is.”

The Daily Journal Monday, March 25, 2024

[Paloma Ave]

A Papan is supporting bill/s to do away with Prop 13. How would you feel if your property was reassessed at current value?

I remember what an ahole their father was in awarding a contract with the Lucky Chances Casino in Colma.

I do not want a Papan anywhere in Burlingame!

[Peter Garrison]

Oops

[Joe]

It's officially election season:

Candidate Filing for the November 5, 2024 Election is Open

The November 5, 2024 Election will be the City’s second district election, with the following seats on the ballot:
• District 1 (partial term – 2 years)
• District 2 (full term – 4 years)
• District 4 (full term – 4 years)