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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Smart Voter
Alameda County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
Measure J
Election Nominations/Filing Charter Amendment
City of Berkeley
Charter amendment - Majority approval required

19,341 / 62.5% Yes votes ...... 11,608 / 37.5% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures
Results as of May 4 2:39pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (80/80)
Information shown below: Fiscal Impact | Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall the Charter of the City of Berkeley be amended to require that candidates for council office be nominated by voters registered in the applicable council district and that candidates for the office of mayor, councilmember, auditor, rent stabilization board commissioner and school board director pay a filing fee of $150 which may be offset, in whole or in part, for each dollar of fee, by submission of the signatures of city registered voters?

Fiscal Impact from City Attorney:
There will be additional costs to candidates from paying the filing fee or collecting signatures. The threshold requirement of the payment of a filing fee or the submission of signatures of registered voters may result in costs savings to the extent that they eliminate candidates who file for office but do not actually campaign or otherwise comply with election related campaign disclosure rules. Such fees may partially offset the City's cost of processing candidate nomination papers but may also increase administrative costs, depending on the number of signatures of registered voters submitted in lieu of the filing fee which need to be verified.

Official Sources of Information
Impartial Analysis from City Attorney
The proposed charter amendment would require that nomination of candidates for council office under the State of California Elections Code must be by voters registered in the same council district as the district for which they nominate a council candidate. Under current law, the State Elections Code and City Charter have been construed together to permit the nomination of council candidates by registered voters anywhere in the City. The proposed charter amendment would also require candidates for the office of mayor, council, auditor, rent stabilization board commissioner, and school board director to pay a filing fee in the amount of $150. The filing fee may be offset in whole or in part by the submission of signatures of registered voters, anywhere in the City. Each signature of a registered voter would result in offsetting $1 of the filing fee. The submission of a total of 150 signatures would result in offsetting the entire $150 filing fee. A candidate could submit any combination of dollars and signatures of registered voters to achieve the required $150 fee or 150 signatures. The city clerk's costs in processing nomination papers will be offset only partially by the fee if it is paid. Under existing law, the amount of fees charged may not exceed City costs.

   Nonpartisan Information

Written Pros & Cons from the League of Women Voters
Click on "Ballot Measure Pros & Cons" under the heading "Non- partisan information for Alameda County voters" Scroll down to page 6 of the document.
News and Analysis

Berkeley Daily Planet

Contra Costa Times Oakland Tribune
Suggest a link related to Measure J
Links to sources outside of Smart Voter are provided for information only and do not imply endorsement.

Arguments For Measure J Arguments Against Measure J
Measure J is a small, but much-needed, reform of the process by which candidates for office are placed on the ballot.

In past elections candidates have placed their names on the ballot, at the expense of the City, but put forth no effort to campaign, attend public forums, or even file required campaign finance reports. Candidates who are not serious cost the City money and clutter the ballot. 

Measure J will make two modest changes to our nomination process + reducing costs and bringing our process in line with most other cities.

Measure J will make the candidate nomination process more representative. Under the current rules, a City Council candidate can get on the ballot with 20 nominating signatures from voters who live anywhere in the City. However, the only people allowed to vote for a City Council candidate are those who live in his or her district. Measure J will close this loophole and require that City Council candidates receive 20 nominating signatures from voters in their own Council district.

Measure J will reduce the number of candidates who have no intention of participating in election activities. The City currently pays all costs associated with placing a candidate on the ballot + including up to $1,400 for printing a candidate's photo and ballot statement. Many other cities require candidates to pay for some or all of these costs. Measure J will require candidates to pay a modest filing fee ($150) to cover some of the City's costs. To ensure that no one will be prevented from running for office due to lack of funds, candidates may submit 150 signatures instead of paying the filing fee.

SUPPORT MEASURE J IT'S FAIR, IT'S REPRESENTATIVE, AND IT SAVES MONEY.

s/LONI HANCOCK, Assemblywoman

s/LAURIE CAPITELLI, Realtor/Chair, Zoning Adjustments Board

s/GORDON WOZNIAK, Councilmember

s/TOM BATES, Mayor

s/JOHN SELAWSKY, President, Berkeley Board of Education

Rebuttal to Arguments For
Measure J is an unnecessary response to a non-existing problem. The number of candidates running in City elections is well within reason. It is rare for more than four candidates to run for any office. On several occasions incumbents have run unchallenged. It takes over 10,000 voter signatures to put a Charter Amendment on the ballot. In this case it took eight votes by sitting councilmembers, hardly surprising, considering that Measure J makes it more difficult to use electoral campaigns to criticize their performance. As a practical matter, ensuring enough valid signatures requires gathering substantially more than 150 signatures, and this must be accomplished in a brief period. A working person who has family responsibilities in the evening and chooses to gather signatures on weekends would have even less time. Since candidates backed by either of the City's two political clubs will have support networks to gather their signatures this burden unfairly targets political outsiders. That's no accident - incumbency protection and keeping power in the hands of the City's political establishment is what this measure is all about. This measure is discriminatory. It will be more burdensome for the disabled. Candidates who can't afford $150.00 or who have new ideas will have to work harder just to get their name on the ballot. At a time when democracy is facing threats from Washington, we here in Berkeley should defend democracy and support open access to the ballot. 

s/Kriss Worthington, Councilmember

s/Diane Woolley, former Councilmember

s/Stephanie Manning, Publisher, Shellmounder News/Co-founder, Berkeley Historical Society/Treasurer, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association

s/Dean Metzger, Chair, Transportation Commission

s/Elliot Cohen, Commissioner, Peace and Justice Commission

This Charter Amendment will deprive us of the opportunity to choose the people we want for City Council by requiring a candidate to collect 150 signatures of registered voters before they could run. This will discourage potential candidates and make it more difficult to challenge incumbents. Any benefit it might have is miniscule compared to the value of having choices. Winning against an incumbent is extremely rare, but the ability to campaign against sitting incumbents allows a candidate to call attention to issues at forums that are not usually available, such as invitations to debate and appear before various groups and political clubs where candidates vie for endorsements. Because politicians value the opinion of these groups this factor alone has sometimes forced incumbents to address important issues. By requiring 150 signatures or $150.00 to run for office this Charter Amendment will prevent potential candidates from participating in the debate and endorsement process. All of Berkeley is worse off if people are deterred from using electoral campaigns to promote solutions or call attention to unresolved problems. Burdening people who may have valid ideas and critiques with a requirement they collect 150 signatures before they could have access to forums where those ideas will have the most impact will limit an important First Amendment right and is undemocratic. There is no good reason to amend the City Charter in a manner that will prevent otherwise qualified people from running for office. I urge you to vote against this measure.

s/ELLIOT COHEN, Commissioner, Peace and Justice Commission

s/MARIE BOWMAN, individually, and on behalf of, President, Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA)

s/BUDD DICKINSON, former candidate for City Council, District 1

s/HALI HAMMER, Musician

s/CHARLIE BETCHER, Vice-Chair, Commissions on Aging and Disability

Rebuttal to Arguments Against
MEASURE J WILL HELP PROVIDE VOTERS WITH CLEAR CHOICES AND SAVE TAXPAYER DOLLARS.

Measure J will not deprive any serious candidate of the ability to run for office. Any person who is serious about serving as an elected official and representing over 100,000 Berkeley residents should be able to pay a $150 filing fee or collect 150 signatures. 

Oakland requires a $300 filing fee. San Francisco requires filing fees of as much as $2000. Almost every city in Alameda County requires that candidates pay for their pro-rata share of the cost of printing their statement in the ballot pamphlet. 

For years, Berkeley has permitted a person to get on the ballot and have their statement printed + all completely at taxpayer expense + with only 20 signatures. The $150 filing fee stipulated in Measure J is a fair and responsible change to our process. With the option of collecting in lieu signatures, no one will be unable to participate for lack of funds.

In every recent election, some people have placed their names on the ballot but done nothing else. The result: Voters get a confusing list of candidates + some serious and some not. City staff spends time and money tracking down these candidates when they fail to file required paperwork. Taxpayers foot the bill for the whole thing. 

Join Mayor Tom Bates, Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, City Councilmembers Betty Olds, Linda Maio, Gordon Wozniak, Dona Spring, Miriam Hawley, and Margaret Breland in supporting Measure J. 

s/LONI HANCOCK, Assemblywoman

s/JANE SCANTLEBURY, Librarian, SEIU 535, Berkeley Chapter

s/JAMES BRYANT, Vice President External Affairs, ASUC '02-'03

s/ JOHN SELAWSKY, President, Berkeley Board of Education

s/ LAURIE CAPITELLI, Realtor/Chair, Zoning Adjustments Board

Full Text of Measure J
The People of the City of Berkeley do hereby amend Article III Section 6-1/2 of the Charter of the City of Berkeley to read as follows:

Section 6 1/2.  Nomination-Filing Fee-Candidate's Statement of Qualifications.

Candidates for council office shall be nominated by registered voters from the council district for which they nominate the council candidate, as further provided in the State of California Elections Code.

At the time of filing his or her nomination papers, each candidate for the office of mayor, councilmember, auditor, rent stabilization board commissioner, and school board director shall pay a filing fee, in the amount of $150.  The filing fee may be offset in whole or in part by the submission of up to 150 signatures of registered voters in the City.  Each signature of a registered voter shall offset $1 of the filing fee.  Any such required submission of signatures, in lieu of filing fees, shall be in addition to the signatures otherwise required by the State of California Elections Code to nominate a candidate, but may be of voters registered anywhere in the City. At the time of filing his or her nomination papers, each candidate for an elective office may file with the city clerk a verified statement showing the name of the candidate, the office for which he or she is a candidate, his or her place of residence, place of birth, present occupation, what public offices he or she has held, whether he or she is a taxpayer in the City of Berkeley, a statement giving information as to his or her experience and qualifications, and a recent photograph, to the end that the electors may be in a position to estimate his or her fitness to fill the office, and the names of not less than five or more than twenty residents of the City of Berkeley, to whom he or she refers.  Until otherwise provided by ordinance, such statements shall not exceed two hundred words in length.  At the time of filing said statement, each candidate shall also pay to the city clerk a printing fee which, until otherwise provided by ordinance, shall be the sum of $35.00. The city clerk shall cause said candidates' statements to be printed in some convenient form and shall mail a copy of said statements to each registered voter with the sample ballot, provided that no name to which the candidate refers shall be included in the publication by the clerk unless the written consent of the person named is filed with the city clerk. The provisions of this section are self-executing, but the city council, by ordinance, may more definitely prescribe the form of said candidate's statement.  The printing fees so collected by the city clerk shall be paid into the City Treasury, and the expense of printing said candidates' statements shall be paid from the City Treasury.  No refund from printing fees shall be made to candidates, nor shall any extra charge be made, regardless of whether the printing expense is more or less than the amount of the fees received.  

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Created: May 4, 2004 14:40 PDT
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