The Saratoga City Council voted 3-0 on Aug. 21 to cancel the November election for two council seats, as only the incumbents filed the necessary paperwork to run.
The councils of both Los Gatos and Monte Sereno are in the same situation this year and also voted to cancel the election and make appointments to fill the two seats open on each council. In Los Gatos, the two incumbents will be appointed to serve again; in Monte Sereno, one incumbent and one newcomer will be appointed.
Incumbents Tina Walia and Kookie Fitzsimmons abstained from the vote to cancel the Saratoga election, which would have cost the city an estimated $100,000.
Mayor Yan Zhao, Vice Mayor Belal Aftab and councilmember Chuck Page largely agreed that they could understand the reasoning for holding an election regardless, but ultimately voted to cancel it in the interest of saving money.
“I think it does make sense, because ultimately there are two people who qualified, two people who are going to make it on the ballot,” Page said. “And, yes, we can make it a popularity contest to see who get more votes, but that’s not important because these two people will be here, and it’s a blessing to be able to work with the same folks that you’ve gotten to know for two years, for the next two years.”
The council’s vote does throw a wrench into its strategy for selecting a mayor, as usually the two top vote-getters in an election enter the rotation to serve as mayor and vice mayor. The city council will now have to make a decision on how to determine the order of the mayoral rotation, according to city staff.
City attorney Richard Taylor said the last time there were the same number of candidates as open seats in a council race was in 2012, which is also the last time the Los Gatos town council was in the same situation.
Members of the public who spoke at the Aug. 21 meeting fell on both sides of the issue. Resident Mona Kaur said canceling the election would disenfranchise her as a voter.
“The election final tally is a performance review, in my opinion, of the city council members,” Kaur said. “Hypothetically speaking, a person might get 200 votes and another might get 20,000 votes–a very big difference in showing how the person is viewed by the citizens and what percentage of representation they have in of the city.”
Jim Cargill, president-elect of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, said the $100,000 needed to hold an election could be put to better use in the city.
“When we put forth a process in which prospective candidates can show up, issue forms on time, get signatures and work within that process, I respect that,” he said. “If we have people that can’t follow that procedure, miss that deadline, frankly, I don’t want them running my city.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com