The elected mayor started as a result one a council member being passed over when it was their turn in the rotation. The first elected mayor position was for two years. Every two years three council seats expired as a result.
Now that we HAVE districting, it makes all the sense in the world to rotate Mayors. The problem we have had is that while a mayor of 20 years wasn't a big deal 50 years ago because we were not split into districts of self-representation and lobbying, & we had community minded individuals who had fewer links to special interests. That isn't the case now days and we have all seen that once an elected has their shoe in the door, its like gum on your shoe to get rid of (or change through the voting system). Times have changed and so should we. Rotation of Mayors might also keep mayors from having license plates that claim they are the mayor so they don't have to put a quarter in the meter. I like people who run for Mayor who say it isn't their life long ambition to be there and remain there until they decide to retire. It is too powerful a position to ascribe to one person for that long length of time. SHARE the CHAIR!
I think a rotating mayor would be a good idea, but an issue that arises is that if we keep district elections, we would have to split the city into 5 districts ... and in such a small city, there may not be very many really well qualified candidates to run in each district. Switching back to at-large elections risks another threatened lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act. Ranked choice at large voting, which was offered as a possible CVRA solution in Attorney General Bonta’s amicus brief to Santa Monica vs Pico, is currently not allowed in General Law Cities, and was vetoed by Newsom when it was last proposed (SB 212, in 2019).
All they did was draw the lines so each seat was in a separate district. But I agree, add a district for the fifth seat. People will come from each district to run. The civic mindedness of the community is fully engaged here. The problem seems not that we don't have enough people to run but we dont have enough people who have the money to out spend all the candidates.
The elected mayor started as a result one a council member being passed over when it was their turn in the rotation. The first elected mayor position was for two years. Every two years three council seats expired as a result.
Now that we HAVE districting, it makes all the sense in the world to rotate Mayors. The problem we have had is that while a mayor of 20 years wasn't a big deal 50 years ago because we were not split into districts of self-representation and lobbying, & we had community minded individuals who had fewer links to special interests. That isn't the case now days and we have all seen that once an elected has their shoe in the door, its like gum on your shoe to get rid of (or change through the voting system). Times have changed and so should we. Rotation of Mayors might also keep mayors from having license plates that claim they are the mayor so they don't have to put a quarter in the meter. I like people who run for Mayor who say it isn't their life long ambition to be there and remain there until they decide to retire. It is too powerful a position to ascribe to one person for that long length of time. SHARE the CHAIR!
I think a rotating mayor would be a good idea, but an issue that arises is that if we keep district elections, we would have to split the city into 5 districts ... and in such a small city, there may not be very many really well qualified candidates to run in each district. Switching back to at-large elections risks another threatened lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act. Ranked choice at large voting, which was offered as a possible CVRA solution in Attorney General Bonta’s amicus brief to Santa Monica vs Pico, is currently not allowed in General Law Cities, and was vetoed by Newsom when it was last proposed (SB 212, in 2019).
All they did was draw the lines so each seat was in a separate district. But I agree, add a district for the fifth seat. People will come from each district to run. The civic mindedness of the community is fully engaged here. The problem seems not that we don't have enough people to run but we dont have enough people who have the money to out spend all the candidates.