| Local Campaign Roundup |
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By Pat Keeble Editor, Contra Costa Insider Are you fed up with water restrictions or increased transit fees? Is your city ignoring your plea to fill potholes in front of your house? Do you think health care districts (formerly hospital districts) without hospitals have outlived their usefulness? Is your kid's school laying off teachers? If so, now is your opportunity to run things. While most of us are planning or enjoying a leisurely summertime, a few hundred Contra Costans are busily preparing to run for local offices in the Nov. 4 election. On the ballot along with candidates for president, Congress and the state Legislature, voters are likely to find elections for city government positions and memberships on the boards of numerous special districts, which provide such services as water, sanitary and transit, and most of the county's school districts. Filing opened last week, with only a small, initial flurry of activity. Most incumbents and many challengers will wait until the last week of filing to get in their nomination papers and file them. In the first of four weeks of nomination filing, the coming elections in the cities of Martinez and Richmond appear most interesting, if filings are any clue. Richmond, the county's only charter city, is holding its first election since downsizing the council from nine to seven. Hence there is the interesting phenomenon of five incumbents but only three seats to be on the ballot. Nathaniel Bates, Thomas Butt and John Marquez were among seven people who took out nomination papers the first week. Martinez, like all the other cities in the county, has a five-member council elected under the state municipal code. Between redevelopment and the local beaver dam downtown on Alhambra Creek, they've fielded plenty of controversy in the past few years, so perhaps its not surprising that incumbents Mark Ross and Janet Kennedy have seen two would-be opponents take out papers, including John Fuller, a young, up-and-coming businessman, and council meeting regular Michael Alford. In most other cities, incumbents have taken out papers but few opponents have done so, so far. Any citizens can run for offices in these cities, school districts and special districts, as long as they are registered vote in the jurisdiction they seek to lead. There is no filing fee and primary requirements include getting nomination signatures from a small number of other voters registered in the jurisdiction. Realistically speaking, would-be candidates find that running against incumbents is pretty hard to do, and most incumbents, with no term limits in sight, run for numerous terms, gaining the valuable name recognition that helps keep them in office. What wannabes should hope for is an open seat, such as is occurring on the Walnut Creek City Council, where three-term incumbent Charlie Abrams has announced he will not seek re-election. Most voters are unaware of the existence of the many special districts in the county, mostly formed to provide various municipal services at a time when the territory they cover was unincorporated. That unfamiliarity means most voters will vote the incumbents back in. They are either familiar with the names or figure that, since they probably haven't heard anything bad about them (most news media don't cover most of the districts), they're probably doing a good job. Nonetheless, the 40-plus districts in Contra Costa County, ranging from BART to small irrigation districts, provide important services and are a big slice of public tax and fee expenditures. They provide most of the water, sanitary services and fire protection usually provided by cities in other scenarios. Candidates for city offices must take out the filing papers with their respective city clerks. Those interested in district offices can take out papers at the County Clerk's office in Martinez. A few districts issue their own papers but all must be filed with the city or county clerk by 5 p.m. Aug. 8. In cases where incumbents don't file for re-election by that time, the deadline is extended to Aug. 13, for new candidates only. In any cities and districts where the number of final candidates equals or is less than the number of seats up for election, they can decide not to be on the November ballot. Further information about the elections can be obtained from the county at (925) 335-7800 or toll free at (877) 335-7802. Information can also be gleaned from www.cocovote.us. Details of city elections may be obtained from each city clerk. |
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