In the latest twist to a still-unsettled scenario, runoff elections have been slated for the Peninsula Community Planning Board on June 9.
With four seats up for grabs and results of the March election still uncertified, board members agreed Thursday, May 17, to ask voters to return to the ballot box to cast votes in a potential all-day affair.
The election has been called to comply with a section of the planning board’s bylaws requiring candidates to secure at least 51 percent of the vote. If less than five members receive a majority vote, subsequent elections are required until the vacancies are filled, according to the board’s bylaws.
Board members will convene Friday, May 25, at 1 p.m. to plan an election forum. The meeting will be held at the Point Loma Hervey Branch Library, 3701 Voltaire St.
Only one candidate received a majority of the vote during the March 15 election.
Jay Shumaker collected 260 of 322 votes cast and has formally been seated on the board. Since a candidate can win only with a simple majority, the four remaining vacancies will be filled as each candidate manages to garner at least 51 percent. Because it is unclear how long it will take for candidates to successfully reach this threshold, board members acknowledged this may require repeated elections over the course of the day June 9 ” or perhaps even longer, according to Gregg Robinson, the board’s vice chair.
The board makes recommendations to the city council concerning land-use issues on the peninsula.
Board members acknowledged the difficulty and inconvenience presented to voters as a result of the bylaw structure.
“I promise, the second we get the board in place, we’re going to amend our bylaws and you will never see an election like this again,” said Vice Chairman Gregg Robinson during the meeting. “I think it’s undemocratic, but it’s what we’re left with.”
WHERE THINGS STAND NOW
The June 9 runoff election will focus on 11 of the 13 candidates who did not receive a majority vote in March, Robinson said.
The candidates are: Darrold Davis, Edwina Goddard, Gary Halbert, Jarvis Ross, Cynthia Conger, Cleo Pearson, Steve Kahlil, Dennis Cormier, Christy Sisler, Ron Brooks and Sean Devine. Two candidates ” Jack Fisher and Mark Hoppe ” have since dropped out of the race, Robinson said.
Elections will be held at the Point Loma Hervey Branch library between 9 and 11 a.m., with a vote count immediately following from 11 a.m. to noon.
Candidates who receive a majority vote will then be crossed off the ballot, Robinson said.
The remaining candidates will be placed back up for voter consideration as the election continues with another vote from noon to 2 p.m. Under this scenario, voters would be asked to return and vote for another candidate “” with another vote count immediately following.
Another round of voting, if necessary, will take place from 3 to 5 p.m., with ballots being counted between 5 and 6 p.m.
Robinson said he hopes that the remaining four vacant seats will be filled by the end of that day.
However, if candidates cannot manage a majority of the votes, the election will continue to the board’s next meeting on June 21, Robinson said.
Representatives from the League of Women Voters are scheduled to help count votes, he said.
Robinson said he wants the process to be as fair and objective as possible.
The actual ballots cost about $50 for approximately 400, Robinson said.
According to board Treasurer Cydney Shinn, the board currently has just under $500 in its budget.
Although no board members voted against the motion to have the unusual run-off election structure, three board members abstained from voting.
Board member Mignon Scherer said she abstained because she did not receive an e-mail about the odd election process sent by Robinson after he met with city officials in an effort to solve the problem.
Robinson said the idea for the unorthodox election structure was developed to “minimize the damage” on voters who have other obligations but who still want to vote. Other options considered included asking voters to remain for up to 12 hours at the polls, he said.
Robinson acknowledged it’s possible that only the most dedicated of voters may show up for the election, putting the decision in the hands of a small number of voters. It’s possible that as few as five voters willing to stay to the end of the cycle could determine who gets on the board, he said.
“This is not going to be a very democratic process in the small sense of that, just because it is going to be a trial by boredom,” he said.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Robinson and other members of the planning board met earlier this month with Councilman Kevin Faulconer, City Attorney Mike Aguirre and deputy city attorneys to resolve several issues, including the run-off election.
Other topics covered included trying to assess the legitimacy of candidate Darrold Davis, according to Deputy City Attorney Alex Sachs. Sachs was present at one of the meetings with Robinson on Wednesday, May 16, he said.
The issue regarding Davis was concerning whether he had attended a previous board meeting prior to the March election, as required under the PCPB’s bylaws. The city attorney’s office issued a memorandum determining that Davis satisfied a requirement that candidates must have attended at least one meeting prior to the election, Sachs said.
However, board members remain divided over whether a candidate forum Davis attended should be counted as an official board meeting, he said.
Davis received the second-highest number of votes in the March 15.
Former board Chair Cynthia Conger will also be on the ballot, although she was one vote short of falling within the top five candidates in March.
As in previous board election cycles, the top five candidates with the most votes would have filled the board vacancies had the bylaw provisions requiring a majority vote not been rediscovered by the city attorney’s office.
Conger said the need for this kind of runoff election has never happened to the board before.
“Aren’t we just an advisory body for the council? Aren’t [the city attorneys] just advisory for us?” Conger said.
The city attorney’s office does play an advisory role. However, the bylaw language stating the necessary margin of victory for the winners overrules any precedent already set, Sachs said at the meeting.
“It’s an onerous requirement on the 332 residents who came and voted in March, and it’s unfortunate that we’ve gotten to that position,” Sachs said. “But that’s the position that we’ve got.”
The Peninsula Community Planning Board meets on the third Thursday of the month, hears proposals and votes on land-use issues concerning an area of about
4,409 acres of the Peninsula bounded by the Ocean Beach community on the west, the Midway community to the north the San Diego Bay and port tidelands on the east and the Pacific Ocean to the south.
For more information, visit www.pcpb.net.