Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 City and County of San
Francisco
Elections Commission
(Approved: 11/20/02)
Minutes of the Meeting
held
October 23, 2002
1. President Mendelson called the meeting to order at
7:00 pm.
2. COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Commissioner Robert
Kenealey, Commissioner Brenda Stowers, Commissioner Richard Shadoian, Vice
President Alix Rosenthal, President Michael Mendelson.
3. FLAG SALUTE
4. PUBLIC COMMENT. None.
5. President Mendelson stated that there was no need
to confer with counsel and therefore there would be no closed session.
6. MOTION to approve the Elections Commission
Minutes for the meeting held October 2, 2002. Commissioner Rosenthal moved
to approve the minutes, Commissioner Shadoian seconded. PASSED.
7. Officer's Reports
President Mendelson gave a report of the restructuring
of the Department of Elections. The complete report is attached as an
addendum #1 to these minutes.
8. Committee Reports
Commissioner Brenda Stowers reported that the Budget
and Policy Committee met at 5:30 pm today. A motion was made at that meeting
to recommend to the full Commission that it adopt a Notification Policy
but there was no second and the motion died. There was no motion to recommend
a policy for zero tolerance regarding Voter Fraud. This means that
neither policy made it out of the committee.
9. Director's Report
Voter Services Division - to date, 1200
voters have come to the early voting counter. This is higher than the
very low voter turn out in March. 16,000 absentee voter applications have
been received, 700 remain to be processed. 14,000 registration cards have
come in since the last Commission meeting - this is a high rate. These
people are changing information or are new voters. Monday, October 21
was the deadline for voter registration.
Campaign Services Division - The observer guide
is completed. This guide describes all the processes for an election such
as how the absentee ballots are handled, the tabulation of votes that
come into the computer room on election night, etc. The campaign services
phone bank has been busy. We delivered over 440,000 voter information
pamphlets (VIPs) to the Post Office beginning September 29 and ending
on October 10. The Post Office advises that there are still routes to
which the carriers have not delivered the pamphlets. These VIPs are so
large, the carriers see them as catalogs - not time sensitive documents.
The Post Office has been very supportive and has been regularly checking
the various stations to see if the VIPs have gone out.
Next Wednesday, Campaign Services will hold an Open
House. The public will be able to participate in guided tours of the department.
The DOE has put out notices inviting people to attend. Eighteen members
of the Grand Jury are expected to observe the election process this time,
this is more than in previous elections, and they will be able to go wherever
they want. But like all observers, they cannot touch ballots or rosters
or ask questions of the staff. They will be able to speak to supervisors,
but cannot interfere with the work of staff.
Election Support Services Division - There
has been some turnover in the ranks of the poll workers, however, we have
more than the sufficient numbers of clerks. 2700 poll workers have signed
up and have been scheduled for classes. Two more inspectors are needed
at the present time.
Management of Information Systems (MIS) - The
logic and accuracy testing - where we test the vote counting systems -
is complete. The report has been sent to the Secretary of State and they
have certified it.
Purchasing - We are working to see that all
of our purchases, contracts and invoices meet City standards. This is
a learning process and we are working with everyone who is knowledgeable
in this process to make sure we are compliant.
Personnel - The Election Day and Evening personnel
list is complete. We know where people will be and what they will be doing
and at what times. We will be putting together a post election personnel
list on Friday which should be completed next week. In addition, we are
preparing for the time when we will need to release many of the employees.
There is always a lot of paper work involved in this activity. We have
134 part time people compared to March when the number was 250. The 250
did include 100 Field Election Deputies (FEDs). This time we have 50 FEDs
included in the 134 employees for this upcoming election.
Preparation for the November 5, 2002 - The
ballots have been put together for the Inspectors to pick up beginning
next weekend. Each polling place will receive four boxes of cards because
there are four cards to the ballot this time. We've executed the plan
and now is the time to hand things over to the poll workers. The planning
with the Sheriffs is nearly complete. We have a few items such as communication
protocols to hammer out, but personnel and logistics are complete.
Francee Covington held a Media Day yesterday in City
Hall. Fourteen media representatives stopped by as well as City Hall communications
staff to make sure the media had the tools necessary for reporting election
night. I want to commend her for the best organized Media Day we've ever
had.
Commissioner Kenealey asked the Director if
the Commissioners would need special identification to be able to observe
the election day activities. Director Arntz replied that special cards
would be provided to the Commissioners.
Commissioner Shadoian asked the Director to
explain the Election Observer Panel. Director Arntz reported that the
panel is being put together. Notices have been sent out to political organizations
and media. We are one of only a few of the counties in the State to have
such a panel.
Commissioner Shadoian asked the Director about
the Secretary of State's report. Director Arntz stated that he had sent
it today and will provide copies to the Commissioners. Commissioner Shadoain
also requested a copy of the previous report. The Director said he would
provide this as well.
Public Comment
Peter Fries said that a motion should be put
forward for action and discussion and after the commission makes its comments
the public is invited to make comments and then the vote is taken.
9. Unfinished Business - None
10. New Business -
Commissioner Rosenthal stated that she had
a copy of the organizational chart of the Department of Elections and
that she wanted to make sure that there was the same chart available to
the public attending this meeting. The Commission Secretary responded
that copies had been made available on the public information table. The
Commissioner then MOVED that the Commission adopt the Organizational Chart
as its general elections department structure. Commissioner Kenealey seconded.
Mr. David Howe, the author of the Strategica Report
in which the Organizational Chart is a part was introduced to speak. He
explained that his Washington state- based, three person firm that specializes
in strategic planning, organizational design and process redesign - works
mostly with public sector clients. A good portion of their work is for
California and Oregon election administrators. The California Secretary
of State retained the company to do this report for San Francisco.
Mr. Howe explained that the scope of the project was
to formulate an organizational structure and staffing plan to build up
experience and expertise in elections. Also, he wanted to help develop
a facilities plan to improve utilization of space, movement of materials
and make a better logistical set up for the City. The plan was to develop
an infrastructure for administering safe, secure, accurate and accessible
elections as well. Mr. Howe recommended a year-round staff of permanent
employees. He said he toured five of the six DOE facilities and determined
that three were substandard (one building was condemned). Further, he
stated that the operations of the DOE have historically been treated as
something that is temporary - "temporary" employees are brought
in, the DOE finds "temporary" space, get the job done and then
forgets about it. Mr. Howe explained that the attitude about how elections
departments should work has changed in the last few years. It has become
very apparent that the department must build a continuity of experience
and expertise and to do this the department needs more permanent staff.
In this way, the Department does not need to rebuild for each election
and can hit the ground running. Additionally, the department must eliminate
the distractions and risks of the substandard facilities and simplify
the logistics as much as possible.
Mr. Howe said that the organizational structure he
designed creates a rational grouping of functions and can be implemented
with existing staff for the most part. He said that key stakeholders in
the plan, such as DHR, have been very encouraging. The five key divisions
are administration, logistics, voter services, campaign services, and
technology. Mr. Howe recommends a staff of 30 with about half that number
being managers. During the off season, the managers work as staff. When
there's an election, the staff explodes to over 200 - with the same number
of managers, which is a ratio of 17 managers to 200 staff. This makes
a good and flexible organizational structure.
Mr. Howe stated that his recommendation regarding
facilities is to create an elections operations center and reduce the
number of facilities from six to three; minimize services in City Hall
to candidate services and early voting; consolidate everything else into
one facility to minimize the movement of materials and have visibility
to the management structure in that one location.
Mr. Howe's Strategica Report is supplied as
the second addendum to these minutes.
Commissioner Brenda Stowers asked why the storage
facility in Alameda was not one of the sites Mr. Howe suggested be eliminated.
Mr. Howe replied that this was a "dead end" facility. There
is no movement of supplies once they are delivered there and archived
for the required amount of time. Once that required time is met, the materials/ballots
are destroyed. The cost for storage is good unless a cheaper one is found
on the peninsula. He said that this was a minor issue and the Department
had many more important ones to deal with first.
Commissioner Stowers asked if Mr. Howe worked
with DHR to arrive at the classifications shown in the Organizational
Chart. Mr. Howe answered that he had several meetings with Anna Borja
of DHR who assisted him in making his determinations. The Commissioner
then asked if the Commission should approve the DHR codes or does the
Commission want to give that ability to the Director. President Mendelson
said that the Director and Mr. Howe had worked together on the chart and
that the Commission would ask the Director for his opinion of the classifications.
Commissioner Rosenthal thanked Mr. Howe and
the Secretary of State's Office for providing his services.
Director Arntz thanked the Commission for allowing
him the opportunity to present his comments on this report. He said he
had worked very closely with Mr. Howe and the classifications meet with
his approval.
Commissioner Rosenthal asked to withdraw her
motion and present another instead. The Commissioner MOVED that
the Commission adopt the organizational structure as presented by Strategica
as the DOE's organizational structure as soon as is practicable after
the fall 2002 election season. Commissioner Kenealey seconded this motion.
President Mendelson asked the Director how much time
he and Mr. Howe had spent together to create the report. Mr. Arntz replied
that many hours were spent for this purpose. The Director stated that
Mr. Howe brought a lot of expertise and experience with other election
departments, looking at the past and looking with an eye to the future
of voting to the project.
Public Comment
Allen Nicholson, former foreman of the San
Francisco Civil Grand Jury, which produced a report on the DOE a few years
ago, strongly suggested reducing the number of precincts. Linda Crawford,
personnel manager of the DOE, explained that trying to implement the
organizational chart would not be a "slam dunk". She said procedures
needed to be followed and would take awhile to implement. Peter Fries
said that the presentation materials were unreadable and did not meet
ADA requirements and the City was overrun with consultants.
MOTION 10-23-1
To adopt the organizational structure of the Strategica
Organizational and Facilities Review, Appended as Exhibit Two, as the
Organizational Chart of the Department of Elections and that its implementation
begin as soon as practicable after the fall 2002 election. Roll Call Vote:
Kenealey - Yes, Rosenthal - Yes, Stowers - Yes, Shadoian - Yes, Mendelson
- Yes. PASSED.
11. Items for Future Agendas
Commissioner Shadoian suggested the Commission discuss
HR 3295, the national bill on voting changes at a future meeting.
12. Public Comment
Peter Fries stated that the organizational
chart was barely readable and that he felt that five deputy directors
were too many for the size of the department. He asked if the chart meant
that the City was hiring as an 1844 a "Logistica" consultant.
President Mendelson advised Mr. Fries to put his question in writing and
the Commission Secretary would see that his question is answered.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:19 pm.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Addendum:
President Michael Mendelson's Report
I.
INTRODUCTION
The San Francisco Charter mandates the Election
Commission oversee all federal, state and county elections; furthermore,
the Charter authorizes the Commission to set general policies for the Election
Department. The Charter provision also mandates the Elections Department
Director to run the Department's day-to-day operations.
II.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ELECTIONS
DEPARTMENT'S
DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.
The Elections Department functions pursuant
to its operation manual. That document demonstrates the length and breadth
of the Department's day-to-day operations.
The Department operates in the personnel area
including hiring, promotion, termination, etc. It deals regularly with the
Department of Human Resources to implement the City and County's various
policies in these areas.
The day-to-day operations require the Director
deal with vendors who provide a multiplicity of goods and services including,
but not limited to, ballot cards, printers who produce the Voter Information
Pamphlet, translators who produce the various multilingual documents legally
required.
Elections staffing necessitates the use of
temporary employees. This use can reach a high of 300 plus during peek election
periods. Such temporary election cadre, in turn, generate their own space
requirements.
Staffing requirements also necessitate full
time employees use. Typically, such full time employees manage various units
that make up the department. Such full time cadre, in turn, generate space
requirements. Full time staff, prior to election, maintain various activities
necessary to make the election happen, i.e. contracts with vendors, production
of the Voter Information Pamphlet, etc.
The Elections Department is an information
rich environment. A tour of the Department's facilities demonstrates computer
super abundance. These computers have both simplified and made more complex
the election process. Simplification results from computer's inherent ability
to store, classify, and disgorge information at almost the speed of light.
Such ability means efficient, vote processing.
Complexity results from the Department's dependence
on computer technology. Because computer breakdown can have a catastrophic
effect on the election process, the department must maintain a technical
cadre that oversees the complex computer network to ensure reliability during
critical use periods.
The Election Department must have space available
to process the ballot cards. Such processing takes various forms; for example,
counting absentee ballots and associated activities. Ballot processing includes
retention and storage of the voted and unvoted ballot cards. When one considers
the Elections Department, by law, must order, literally, millions of cards
and retain such cards for canvassing purposes and then store the used ballots
in case of recount, ballot logistics is a major space and personnel element
in the Elections Department's planning.
San Francisco is divisible into some 640 precincts.
Each precinct, on average, has three (3) people administering a polling
place. Each polling place must provide tables, chairs, voting booths and
the voting machinery. As a result, the polling place furniture and equipment
storage is a significant concern.
The previous enumeration of the various year-round
and election day specific activities is not all-inclusive. The enumeration
demonstrates the breadth and magnitude of elements that go to make up the
Election Department's responsibility and areas where such responsibilities
lie both year-round and on any given election day.
The year-round operation and election day
specific activities are mosaic-like in their primary characteristics; that
is, each activity is a small piece of a larger whole that, when viewed from
a reasonable distance, make a complete picture. The picture's appearance
is a function of successful completion and inclusion of each small piece
into that whole. The measure of Elections Department success is how well
each of the small, individual, statutorily mandated activities is carried
out. If done well, the election process results in a fair, efficient, and
expeditious result.
III.
THE COMMISSION'S COMMENCEMENT
ACTIVITIES
The Commission's creation and commencement
as a supervisory body over the Elections Department is a new phenomenon
in San Francisco. Previously, the Elections Department was administered
as a City Department under the City Administrator's aegis. After Proposition
E's passage in 2001, the Election Department became a "stand alone"
operation subject to the Commission's authority and general control.
Consequently the Commission, consisting of
seven members, each selected by a different elected official, assumed the
obligation to create a new, independent, Elections Department. Such obligation,
necessarily included the duty to look beyond the day-to-day operations of
the Department and to plan the Department's general structure and organization.
Such strategic planning meant the Commission
analyzed and evaluated the present "non-stand alone" operation
to determine its strengths and weaknesses. To facilitate this evaluation,
the California Secretary of State, Bill Jones, and his able deputy, John
Mott-Smith, provided the Commission with the formable services of David
Howe, a consultant specializing in evaluation and analysis of election operations.
Mr. Howe's report is the lynch pin upon which
this tale hangs. It provides the insight, analysis, and recommendations
that make possible the orderly transition from a department managed by City
government to a "stand alone" operation supervised by an independent
commission.
Future stability and efficient department
operation is dependent upon three (3) critical components, structure, staffing,
and space. The space component i.e., square footage necessary to house certain
Election Department operations is open and obvious. Presently, the Department
is scattered about in various, disparate physical locations including Brooks
Hall, Pier 29, 240 Van Ness Avenue and some storage facilities in Alameda
County. The Department needs adequate space to process absentee ballots
as well as to provide room to do other Department activities. Notably, placement
of the Election Department's now scattered sites "under one roof"
would have two salutary effects; first, it would provide easier access for
observers to monitor the vote counting process; second, it would provide
easier statutorily required Sheriff coverage. Such "under one roof"
Election Department operation would, in no way, diminish the Election Department
presence in City Hall and the Department's traditional election eve events
there. Room 48 would continue to function as the filing and information
center for the Department. The majority of Elections services carried out
presently at that address would remain. The Elections Commission would also
retain its presence at City Hall as well.
Presently, staffing exists on a somewhat arbitrary
basis. As election time looms, more temporary employees are hired. The most
explicit example of how this irrational system operates is the Memo To Finance
Committee, March 20, 2002 Finance Committee Meeting. The Board of Supervisors
budget analyst determined that:
Overall, the Department anticipates spending
an estimated $3,050,278 for temporary salaries in FY 2001-02,
which is $2,150,275 or 239 percent more than the $900,000 originally
budgeted. (emphasis added)
In contrast, as shown above, the Department is underspending by $534,144 or 38 percent less than their budget of $1,405,144 for permanent salaries, because the Department of Elections has not filled 11.2 FTEs (full time employees) of their 24 FTE permanent budgeted positions, or a vacancy factor of 47 percent. Instead, the Department has continued to use temporary staff to perform the duties of the permanently budgeted positions. (emphasis added)
This is a recurring problem for the Department, and similarly resulted in significant overspending the temporary salaries and underspending the permanent salaries in the previous years.
The creation of a full time, year-round staff would clearly assist in cost savings as well as produce more efficient elections operations.
Because of the Elections Department's unique work pattern, the Commission will work with the Department of Human Resources to obtain its approval of special status for designated Election Department employees who would work during the Election Department up season.
Presently, employee status within the Department is a hodge podge of various statuses from full time civil service, to provisional, to acting, to temporary. Staffing review must take into account reform and systemization of employee status.
Ultimately, the efficiency and effectiveness of the Elections Department as a "stand alone" department results from the integration of space utilization and staffing under the broad aegis of the Department's structure. The Election Department's physical manifestation is its organizational chart. Previous Election Departments had no functioning operational chart.
The Commission must, at this relatively early time in its existence, given the Department's new "stand alone" status, emplace in a general department organizational plan, a year-round operation, that will result in an effective, efficient Department.
CONCLUSION
The voter created Elections Commission and its charter-granted- authority to set general policies provides a unique opportunity to establish an election department that "stands alone" i.e. a department that is free from outside influences, is autonomous in its operations, and is able to manage efficiently and effectively City, state, and federal elections.
The Commission has the authority to create general policies; further, it has the authority to ensure the means whereby its general policies are implemented are appropriate. The Commission must ensure that the Department's structure implements the Department's primary goal - fair, efficient, and effective elections; further, the Commission must insure the Department is properly staffed year-round to achieve success in the Department's primary goal.
The Commission previously passed two general policies; the first provided for The Department's "under one roof" operation and second provided for the Department's adherence to Civil Service personnel rules.
The Commission's last general policy obligation is to create and implement a general department structure that supports fully a "stand alone" elections department. With this last general policy in place, the commission has passed the general policies necessary to implement a successful transition from a government agency to an independent-Commission-regulated department.
Addendum
#2: Strategica Report.