Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Department of Elections
Elections Commission
Approved: 8/7/02
City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Minutes of the Meeting Held
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
I. President Mendelson called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm.
2. ALL COMMISSION MEMBERS WERE PRESENT: Robert Kenealey, Thomas Schulz, Alix Rosenthal, Michael Mendelson, Richard Shadoian, and Brenda Stowers.
3. Flag Salute
4. Public Comment: Doug Comstock asked that the DOE not use people from the Mayor or Supervisor Ammiano’s field of influence as FEDs if the ballot measure passes in November; Peter Fries asked why the same item (item 10) is on tonight’s agenda as well as this coming Friday’s agenda; David Rodgers commented on the Ammiano ballot measure regarding waivers for City workers to work on election day. He suggested that the DOE use poll workers with years of experience as FEDs.
5. Approval of Minutes for: March 6, 13; April 3, 17; July 8; Budget Committee Minutes for March 13, April 3, 15, 22. Personnel Committee Minutes for April 29. The Commission voted to APPROVE these minutes unanimously.
Public Comment: Peter Fries stated that he was not satisfied with the early minutes of the Commission and the way he had been quoted as a public speaker. President Mendelson thanked Mr. Fries for the work he as done on his alternative Elections Department website and said that some of his suggestions may be included in the Commission’s soon to be implemented official website.
6. Officers’ Reports. President Mendelson briefly gave an overview of the present litigation and current status of the DOE. The President stated that the Commission will work to keep the attorney costs under control. Vice President Richard Shadoian passed out the notes from the Blue Ribbon Panel that met in June to discuss election improvements. He stated that a lot of good issues were raised at the meeting and urged that the Commission read the report.
Commissioner Stowers reported that there have been several meetings with different vendors regarding Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Attendees have been the Acting Director, Deputy City Attorney Julie Moll, Dwight Beatty, Steve Hill and several of his center’s members and DOE staff. The main subject has been what will it take to implement IRV. Commissioner Stowers will be meeting with Acting Director Arntz to find out in which direction the DOE feels is appropriate to move – to use the existing vendor or seek another through the RFP process.
7. Committee Reports. Commissioner Schulz reported that he has met with DHR. The announcement went out on June 21st for the recruitment of Director of Elections. It has been posted on some internet websites, however, no direct mailings have been sent yet. At the present time one application has been received. More outreach approaches are being developed. He reported that there were a lot of phone calls when the announcement first went out but that the pending litigation may be holding applicants from currently coming forward. There are plans for a brochure to send to all the registrars of voting throughout the country. Commissioner Shadoian asked what is the salary range mentioned on the announcement. Commissioner Schulz answered that it is $92,924 to $144,144, the class number is 0941 and the announcement is on the City’s website. Commissioner Schulz said that he would have the process in writing for the next regular Commission meeting. Commissioner Stowers stated that this is not the first time the City has needed to hire a Director of a department and that DHR should be able to give us an estimated amount of time that the process will take. President Mendelson requested that Marsha Stroop, of the DHR, come to a future meeting and make a presentation about the process and field questions from the Commission.
Public comment. Peter Fries stated that he was confused because this subject is also the topic of Item 11 on today’s agenda.
Commissioner Alix Rosenthal reported that she has written a letter to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors in advance of the Commission hiring outside counsel and that their help is expected to assist us in getting the funding. She said that she is mindful of the expense and will do all that she can to keep the costs down. Deputy City Attorney Moll reported that she has had calls from the Mayor’s Budget Office about the process for hiring outside counsel. Ms. Moll said she explained to them why the competitive solicitation requirements do not apply. They also had a question about the budget authority. Ms. Moll explained that there would not be a contract until there was an appropriation from the Board of Supervisors.
Public comment. Peter Fries said that he was confused about why the Commission continues to take advice from the City Attorney’s office when, in his opinion, they continue to give bad advice and the Commission has hired outside counsel.
President Mendelson introduced Mr. David M. Howell, of Strategica, an organization made available to the DOE through the Secretary of State’s Office. Mr. Howell explained that his organization, based in Seattle, will work with San Francisco’s DOE to analyze space, organizational structure, alternatives for building up the core of experienced, professional staff – particularly in middle management, and the flow and process of transactions as the elections are conducted. Mr. Howell stated that he will spend six weeks working with our department.
8. Director’s Report. Acting Director Arntz reported that the nomination process began on July 15; and Voter services is caught up on their review of signatures. Two staff went to Sacramento to the Voting Modernization Board Meeting today. The result of that meeting was the allocation of funds for new technologies for elections departments. The formula for that allocation will be available tomorrow and Mr. Arntz will share it with the Commission. Mr. Arntz said that he’s working on correcting the classifications of DOE staff in an effort to have the classifications more accurately match the work performed. Seventy-five precincts have been created due to changes in district lines.
Mr. Arntz introduced Jennifer Novak, MIS manager for DOE. Ms. Novak explained the reprecincting process. She reported that the vendor used for the project did not complete the assignment. The work left uncompleted has been done by staff using overtime hours. Twelve new precincts have been created because of the new precinct lines, but the department is looking to consolidate precincts to lower this number. Ms. Novak explained that some of these precincts will become “mail ballot” precincts. These precincts have under 250 voters and they are all sent absentee ballots. This cuts costs because there is no polling place and we don’t pay poll workers. The grand total is 711 precincts currently. Commissioner Rosenthal asked what are the terms of the uncompleted contract, does the DOE get a rebate. Ms. Novak said that we are looking into payment because they did fulfill part of the contract and they have not yet been paid. The Acting Director will be negotiating how much the vendor is to be paid.
Acting Director Arntz stated that the next election will have a four-card ballot instead of three. The additional cost for the ballots will be $300,000 or more. The fourth card is needed to cover all the initiatives. Mr. Arntz asked the Commission to urge the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to oppose SB 1975, just as 37-plus counties have already done. The measure is to have a presidential primary in August instead of March. This could mean three elections during a presidential year with a short turn around between August and November. A primary requires multiple cards. This kind of schedule, Mr. Arntz explained, is very taxing. Commissioner Rosenthal asked Mr. Arntz what the difference is in the number of cards ordered for last March’s primary compared to the upcoming November election. Mr. Arntz said that the DOE ordered 4.4 million cards for March and we have ordered 1.2 million for this November.
Mr. Arntz said that planning is on schedule, the staff is creative, initiating meetings and keeping him informed of progress. There is a lot of positive energy to get the November election done. Mr Arntz said that if the impression is that the department is falling apart, that is entirely incorrect.
President Mendelson stated that apparently bills are still coming in from the last election and asked if Mr. Arntz had a tally yet. The Acting Director said this is still unknown because they continue to come into the office. Commissioner Rosenthal added that payment of these bills is questionable - that is, the Board of Supervisors is likely to not pay them, because invoices were signed without budget authorization. Also invoices have arrived and no one but the former Director was aware of them. These invoices were not brought to the attention of the Commission. Commissioner Rosenthal asked the Deputy City Attorney if it was correct that contracts should not have been signed without the funding being in place. Ms. Moll agreed. Acting Director Arntz added that there are several vendors who were used without their contracts being extended to the current year. These are major vendors like ES&S from whom we get our voting machines, Sequoia who publish the ballots and also the company that handles DOE’s voter files. President Mendelson asked Mr. Arntz when the contracts were supposed to have been re-established. Acting Director Arntz stated that they expired during the last fiscal year. Mr. Mendelson asked if their expiration was during his tenure or prior to April 22nd. Mr. Arntz answered that they were prior to April 22nd and his coming on board as Acting Director.
Mr. Mendelson asked if the Acting Director knew how much we owed on the ballots to the Sequoia company. Mr. Arntz estimated around $1.5 M. President Mendelson asked if the past Director would have normally made certain that these contracts had been in place. Mr. Arntz replied “yes”. Commissioner Schulz asked if the Acting Director would be presenting an action plan for the upcoming election to the Commission soon. The Acting Director said that he would do so. Commissioner Stowers asked that because these contracts have not been renewed, is there any exposure, legally, to the DOE. Deputy City Attorney Moll stated that she would need to look at the contracts and she will work with the department to resolve these issues. Mr. Arntz added that Sequoia has refused to order the paper for the November ballots until they have a contract; and ES&S indicated that they may suspend services to the DOE at the end of this month. Acting Director Arntz said that since there have been no contracts, it’s possible that the vendors may try to charge the City more for the work that they have done.
Public Comment. Peter Fries complained that the agenda does not adequately explain or describe the items to be discussed. Mr. Fries suggested that the Commission ask the Director to pay vendors “segmentally” as the work is completed. Barbara Mescunas said she was disappointed that the precincts were not consolidated and reduced. Kay Burke asked if work has begun on personnel to work the polls for the upcoming election.
RECESS FOR FIVE MINUTES.
SB 1975 – Acting Director John Arntz recommended that the Commission oppose this legislation and urge the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to do the same because the schedule of having a Presidential primary in August instead of March is too taxing of the City’s resources.
9. Old Business. President Mendelson asked that Mr. Arntz prepare a letter for action at the next Commission meeting, August 7, 2002, with his recommend-ations regarding seeking a waiver from the Board of Supervisors that would permit the DOE to use City employees as FEDs in November.
Public comment. David Rodgers asked that exempt non-Civil Service employees not work as FEDs. He said that these are political appointees.
Discussion and possible action to continue the CACE.
Public comment. Barbara Mescunas read a letter from Joseph McGuire, a CACE member, who could not attend this meeting. Mr. McGuire stated that he hoped the group could continue and focus on specific goals. The one he wanted to bring forward was a project to bring citizens into the election process by training them to organize and function as election observers.
It was MOVED and seconded to discontinue the CACE. Discussion: Commissioner Rosenthal asked Ms. Moll how the CACE was created and if the Commission had the authority to eliminate it. Ms. Moll gave a brief history of the group. She said the Board of Supervisors, when they drafted Proposition E last year, considered if Measure E passed should the CACE continue. The Board passed an ordinance stating that it the voters adopted Prop. E, the new Election Commission should recommend to the Board whether CACE should continue. She said that the Board of Supervisors has the ultimate authority to eliminate the CACE and that the Commission would need to send a letter to the Board to let them know the Commission’s opinion. Commissioner Schulz asked the Commission for reasons for the motion to eliminate the CACE. Commissioner Rosenthal said that at the time the CACE was created, there was no citizen oversight of the DOE. Now that the Elections Commission exists, the two bodies are duplicative. She said that the Commission oversees the DOE, it provides a forum for the public to comment on the department and how it operates, and to let the Commission know how they feel. Ms. Rosenthal said that she felt that this system was a more appropriate forum for other members of the public who are not on the CACE. She said that in regards to Mr. Arntz, the two bodies might step on one another’s toes.
President Mendelson asked Acting Director Arntz if the CACE imposed itself on his day to day operations. Mr. Arntz stated that the CACE had one meeting scheduled which never happened because there was no quorum. At another time, the person in the department who helped run the CACE left the department and currently there is no one on staff to assist the CACE. The last meeting that was scheduled was assisted by the Election Commission’s Secretary and there was no quorum, again. In the past, it has taken a lot of resources to organize a CACE meeting; it takes several hours a month to contact the members, update them, take minutes, update drafts, etc. Mr. Arntz said that although the Commission has a secretary to do those things for it, he does not. There is no one to do the care taking for the CACE’s activities. President Mendelson asked Mr. Arntz what would be his recommendation. Mr. Arntz stated that it makes more demands on his time because of the expectation that he provide service and information to the Committee. President Mendelson asked Mr. Arntz if he would object to the Commission recommending to the Supervisors that the CACE be eliminated. Acting Director Arntz answered that he would not object.
Commissioner Schulz said that he was concerned that the CACE is made up of interested members of the public who volunteer their time to participate. He asked if they should be consulted before the Commission vote to recommend their elimination. Mr. Schulz added that there may be some way that they can help and we could make as part of our recommendation that they not be a drain on the staff of the DOE. He said he would like to have a joint meeting with them before the Commission recommends that they are no longer needed.
Commissioner Shadoian stated that as a former CACE member, he was appointed to that group last October. He said they did not meet during his appointment. Commissioner Shadoian suggested that the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors be that the Commission has not worked with the CACE and therefore cannot offer an opinion. He stated that if eleven citizens want to assist the DOE, that group has some potential and can be helpful.
Commissioner Stowers asked, even when the CACE does not meet, is there work to be done by the DOE. Mr. Arntz answered yes.
Public comment: Doug Comstock said that he felt the CACE never had a chance to get off the ground. Richard Ow said that the CACE supported his complaint that the translation of his name was incorrect as done by the DOE’s translator. David Rodgers described what happened when a group of volunteers he had joined were demolished by the Board of Supervisors. He said the people were discouraged and become lost to that cause.
MOVED to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that the CACE cease operations. VOTE: Kenealey – Yea, Rosenthal – Yea, Mendelson – Yea, Stowers – Yea, Shadoian – No, Schulz – No. PASSED 4 – 2.
The Commission Secretary is to prepare a letter to the Board of Supervisors of this recommendation. She is to include the names of the Commissioners and their vote.
Commissioner Rosenthal said that in light of the comments of David Rodgers, she hoped that the members of the CACE would not be discouraged and stay involved with the DOE and that the Commission welcomes any advice that they may have and they are encouraged to come to the Elections Commission meetings and speak publicly about their views. She further commented that her experience with the members showed them to be very thoughtful and active about election issues.
President Mendelson asked Commissioner Schulz to take the lead on writing letters of thanks to the CACE members.
10. Discussion and possible action on removal of Richard Shadoian as Vice President of the Commission and elect a new Vice President.
Public comment. Doug Comstock commented he was proud of the Commission and that it is very important that the Commission look good during this critical time. He was in support of Commissioner Shadoian remaining Vice President. Barbara Mescunas said that she was amazed that this item was on the agenda when there is so much more important work to be done. Richard Ow said that Commissioner Shadoian has often done volunteer work in the City. Kay Burk said that the only person who knows what goes on in the DOE is Mr. Shadoian. David Rodgers said that Commissioner Shadoian offers a distinct point of view that is good to have on a commission.
MOTION to remove Richard Shadoian as Vice President of the Elections Commission made by Commissioner Kenealey, Seconded by Commissioner Stowers. Discussion: Commissioner Stowers asked that the letter sent by President Mendelson asking that Commissioner Shadoian be removed as Vice President be read into the record. The letter was read. VOTE: Kenealey –Yea, Schulz – Yea, Rosenthal – Yea, Mendelson – Yea, Stowers – Yea, Shadoian – No. Motion PASSED 5-1.
Commissioner Kenealey nominated Alix Rosenthal to serve as Vice President of the Elections Commission, Seconded by Commissioner Stowers. No further nominations.
Public comment. None.
VOTE: Kenealey – Yea, Schulz – Yea, Rosenthal – Abstained, Shadoian – No, Stowers – Yea, Mendelson – Yea. Motion PASSED 4-1 with one Absention.
Public comments. Kay Burk said that elections have become worst since the current administration has come to power.
Having no further business, President Mendelson called for the MOTION to adjourn.
MEETING ADJOURNED