Sides at standoff on local election laws

The Redondo Beach City Council voted down a motion by Councilman Todd Loewenstein to discuss plans to come into compliance with statewide election laws, less than a week after Mayor Bill Brand vetoed a previous plan to comply with those same laws.

“We had a lot of options to comply, and to not be discussing this…is basically malpractice in my view,” Brand said, following the no vote.

The previous plan, approved by Council members Christian Horvath, Laura Emdee and John Gran, would have introduced a ballot measure for voters to amend the City Charter to align local election dates to the state’s even-year elections.  

It would have brought the City into compliance with SB 415, which intendeds to improve voter turnout in municipal elections by scheduling them with state and federal elections. According to SB 415, municipalities need to at least have a plan for moving their elections by Jan. 1.

It also, according to an analysis by Emdee, based on figures reported by City Clerk Eleanor Manzano, would have resulted in the City paying less toward its municipal elections than three other potential options, including options that would result in shorter-term limits for sitting electeds.

Horvath’s motion would have extended current council terms to five years, until the 2020 cycle. Councilmen Nehrenheim and Todd Loewenstein found that untenable. However, the vote passed 3-2, despite Brand’s warning that he would veto it.

His veto letter was submitted to the City Clerk on Nov. 29, stating that “elected officials extending their own terms by one year without voter approval is unnecessary at this time, undemocratic and disenfranchises the voters.”

Emdee immediately took issue with Brand’s “malpractice” comment following Tuesday’s vote.

“We had a plan and you vetoed it; then, in February, when we put it on the ballot, all you needed to do was change our minds,” Emdee told Brand. “You’re the one who is putting us out of compliance.”

The Council also stopped a motion by Nehrenheim to discuss a possible legal challenge against SB 415, on the basis that Redondo Beach, as a Charter City, should be protected by constitutional “home rule” authority, which allows cities to supersede state law in some cases.

“I wanted to make a plan that had three things: Cost-effectiveness, quick compliance, and giving the public the option to decide,” Emdee said. “Them bringing it back is a political game, and I don’t want to play it.”

Loewenstein was disappointed in the result, finding it “mystifying” that there couldn’t even be a discussion about the election process.

“There’s two sides to everything, but we should be able to state our case and decide what the best path is. It would have been nice to at least debate what is, in essence, the most important thing we do,” Loewenstein said. “If it’s just about money, we need to discuss that too. I don’t know if [Emdee’s figures] are accurate, but you don’t make decisions that affect so many things based solely on money.”

Should the Council pass another plan to come in compliance with SB 415, they would have until February to place that plan on the ballot for the June 2018 election.

“Hopefully no one sues us between now and February,” Emdee said.

Comments:

comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday.