Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: 09-03-03
Minutes of the Meeting held
August 20, 2003
1. CALL TO ORDER. President Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm.
2. COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Commissioners Michael Mendelson, Thomas Schulz, Robert Kenealey, Brenda Stowers and Richard Shadoian. ABSENT: Arnold Townsend.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT. The following speakers spoke in favor of implementing Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), Norman Rolfe, Steven Hill, Charles Kalish, Rick Galbraith, Jim Salinas, Lucy Colvin. The following speakers said that RCV needed to be completely ready and the voters educated before implementation: James Bryant and Rosabella Safont. Charles Marsteller spoke are regarding using the Ethics Commission’s model.
Commissioner Arnold Townsend joined the meeting during the first speaker under Public Comment.
4. DIRECTOR’S REPORT.
October 7th Recall Election – In this division, staffing is being hired, absentee ballot assembly is occurring, 240 Van Ness is being manned to receive the precinct cards, and the draft plan will be ready for the next Commission meeting,
Consolidated Space – Rooms on the fourth floor of Bill Graham Auditorium have been identified for use for absentee ballot counting and canvassing of the Recall Election. For this election cycle, the DoE will be using the same locations as those for the last election. The Elections Commission’s office may need to be used for the October 7th – with the Commission Secretary using a workstation elsewhere in the DoE.
Outcome of Court Hearing on August 11 – The Superior Court did not grant the writ of mandamus, Julia Moll will report further during this meeting.
Voter Services Division – The division has caught up with the voter registration cards and cancellations. Space for processing provisional and absentee ballots for the Recall Election has been set up.
Campaign Services Division – Staff has been very active receiving proponent and opponent arguments and the drawing for opponent arguments was held this week. There needs to be a local code to control the submittal of these arguments to the Department.
March Primary Election – The calendar for this election is being formulated. Remember, the deadlines for this election occur around the November election. It is highly likely that there will be a June Primary next year.
Poll Worker Recruitment and Training – Several hundred workers have been scheduled for training classes, and the syllabus is in place. Although the numbers of participants are high, from past experience, we can’t count on them working on election day because some will drop out.
Outreach – Community activities continue as well as recruitment of bilingual poll workers.
Ballot Distribution – 240 Van Ness Avenue, Brooks Hall and Bill Graham Auditorium are being set up to receive the ballots for the October and November elections.
Technology –This division has been getting the Logic and Accuracy Testing ready for the October election as well as checking the functioning of all the workstations for new employees as they arrive.
Budget and Personnel – The division is working with the budget analyst of the Board of Supervisors in preparing the supplemental appropriation that the Commission authorized last Monday. Since that report by the budget analyst has not been completed, the supplemental will have to wait until the Board of Supervisors convenes after its summer break, in one month.
President Rosenthal asked the Director if this delay would affect the Department. Mr. Arntz replied that it would not because he is using the baseline budget and tracing the expenses spent on the October Recall Election and will recoup the money once the supplemental is finally approved.
Personal and Budget Update – Personnel requisitions are still pending at the Department of Human Resources. The Mayor’s office and the Controller’s office have signed off on eight permanent provisional positions in the DoE. It is hoped that by the next Commission meeting these issues will be resolved.
Poll Locating – It is anticipated that all locations will be found within the next two weeks for the October Recall Election. These locations will also be used for the November election. There will not be a consolidation of precincts.
Commissioner Townsend said that although outreach for RCV wasn’t needed for this election, outreach is still important. The Commission should do all it can to increase voter participation and he would like the Director to make his outreach plan for the November election available to the Commission in time for the next Commission meeting.
Commission Schulz asked how voters will be told if their precinct locations have been changed as a result of the census. Mr. Arntz said that the Voter Guide would, of course, have precinct information and he hopes to do a mailing to all registered voters within two weeks.
Commissioner Mendelson asked if the State was going to reimburse the City for any monies spent on the Recall Election. Mr. Arntz stated that legislation is at the State Legislature but not yet approved or finalized. Senator Burton has been pushing this through.
President Rosenthal asked the Director if there were any challenges before the Department in which the Commission could assist. Mr. Arntz answered that there is a primary need for poll workers for the October election. He asked that Commissioners speak to media and organizations about this need. Commissioner Townsend said he would provide a list of the organizations with which he is affiliated.
Commissioner Schulz asked Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll if Commissioners could be poll workers. Ms. Moll said that there was no reason why Commissioners couldn’t serve as poll workers. The Commissioner said he would volunteer as a poll worker.
5. PRESIDENT’S REPORT. President Rosenthal said she had no report and invited Julia Moll to report on the legal actions taken earlier in the day.
Ms. Moll reported that a lawsuit was filed a week ago compelling the DoE to take steps to implement RCV for November 2003, and prevent the DoE from doing anything to stop those preparations. A temporary restraining order was sought by the plaintiffs which was denied last week but set a hearing this morning for a preliminary injunction on the matter. Judge Warren, of the Superior Court, held a lengthy hearing. The court acted on the writ of mandate and denied the relief requested. The Judge stated that, although RCV was in the City’s Charter, the need for an orderly, fair and transparent election was paramount.
Commissioner Mendelson asked if the decision included oversight by the Secretary of State (SoS). Ms. Moll answered that the lawsuit was against the City, Director of Elections and the Elections Commission and did not name the SoS. However, the suit did call for a fully manual hand count for the November election and that this hand count not be submitted to the SOS for approval. The City said that before that could be granted, the SoS had to be a party in the case because the court would be making a statement about the power and duties of the SoS. The Court stated that this could not happen without the SoS being present and participating in the proceedings.
Commissioner Schulz asked Director Arntz when would be the next election in which RCV, for individual offices could take place. Mr. Arntz answered that the November 2004 election for supervisors in the odd numbered districts of the City would be the next time for RCV.
6. New Business
(a) Discussion and possible action for the removal of the President of the Commission
President Rosenthal passed the gavel to the Vice President, Michael Mendelson, to preside over this item. Commissioner Kenealey MOVED. Commissioner Schulz SECONDED.
Discussion: President Rosenthal stated that the DoE is facing the toughest election season it may ever face and she feels the department is ready. She said the Commission should be the firewall between the Director and the intense pressures of City politics and the Commission, too, cannot fall victim to these politics. She said that her removal would damage the Commission because it would set a precedent and that the credibility of the Commission is at stake. The president urged her fellow Commissioners to protect the department from instability and politics. As president, Ms. Rosenthal said, her goal was to keep the DoE and the Commission out of the newspapers.
Commissioner Townsend said that he wanted to know the reason this item is on the agenda. He said that unless there’s malfeasance in office, a person should be allowed to fill out their term.
Commissioner Schulz said that one of the reasons this item was on the agenda was because of the unique structure of the Commission, in which each member is only subject to the evaluation of their appointing authority. He said the By Laws should include this relationship and give guidance to the Commissioners.
Commissioner Stowers said that she feels that some of the President’s actions have been inappropriate. The Commissioner listed the following as examples: making comments about RCV to political organizations such as the Young Democrats; that the President addressed the audience as the “peanut gallery”; the President refers to the Commission as “her Commission”; that the agenda is “her agenda”; and that requests to have items on the agenda by fellow Commissioners have been blocked.
Commissioner Townsend replied that these were not reasons for removal and that the comment about “peanut gallery” was not indicative of how the President feels about the citizens of the City. He reminded the Commission that the statement was said after several hours into a five-hour long meeting after the President had been under personal attack. He said that instead of this item being on tonight’s agenda, a cooling off period might have been more appropriate.
Public Comment:
The following speakers spoke in favor of keeping the President: Gwyneth Borden, Lee Blitch, Sonia Melara, Eric Allen, Jim Salinas, Sr., Rosabella Safont, Myrna Lim, Gritchen Schoenstein, Christiana Dominguez, Helynna Brooke.
One speaker said he was against keeping the President: Norman Rolfe, said if it were up to him, he’d fire the President and the Director.
The following speakers said they were neutral on removal of the president: John Bardis said that he was in favor of the courage it took to bring the question of leadership forward, Alexei Folger said that it is a good thing to discuss this matter and that she wants better leadership, and Karen Hiesler said that bringing this up was a “red herring”.
Commissioner Mendelson called the QUESTION. The roll call vote was 5-2 in favor of retaining the President. The motion FAILED.
President Rosenthal called for a ten minute BREAK at 8:45 pm. Meeting RECONVENED at 8:55 pm.
(b) Discussion and possible action to elect a new President of the Commission. This item was TABLED.
(c) Discussion and possible approval of Elections Commission Minutes for Commission Meeting held on August 6, 2003. Commissioner Shadoian asked the Secretary to review the tape of item 7(d) of the August 6, 2003 meeting to verify if there was an amendment to remove the dates after November 4, 2003 from the motion. This item was TABLED.
(d) Discussion and possible action to approve the Commission Annual Report (2002-2003). Commissioner Shadoian MOVED and Commissioner Townsend SECONDED.
Discussion: Commissioner Stowers called the Commission’s attention to page eleven of the Annual Report and the three items listed as strategic goals which she said were the most important point of the report.
Commissioner Shadoian called the QUESTION. The vote CARRIED.
7. Possible Closed Session to confer with counsel. President Rosenthal said that this item was TABLED.
8. Discussion regarding items for future agendas.
Commissioner Townsend asked for a program/plan from the Director for RCV for November 2004. This program to be presented to the Commission after this coming January.
Commissioner Shadoian requested that the Director keep the Commission apprised of the progress of the ES&S proposal for RCV, and that this be a part of the regular Director’s Report.
Commissioner Stowers requested that past items suggested by Commissioners for agendas, that have not been calendared, be calendared. The Commissioner also requested that discussion and possible action for the President to develop a strategic plan for the Commission to determine its direction be calendared within the next 30 days. She added that these plans be based on the items listed within the Commission’s first Annual Report, using the three items of that report on page 6.d.11 of the Commission packet for this meeting.
President Rosenthal suggested that submittal of official ballot arguments be calendared. She said that the rules governing official proponent/opponent arguments need to be presented to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Hall referred this item to the Commission in January of 2001, before the Commission was formed.
ADJOURNMENT was at 8:54 pm.