This is an archive of a past election.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/cc/ for current information.
LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Smart Voter
Contra Costa County, CA November 2, 2004 Election
Measure R
Charter Amendment
City of Richmond
Majority Approval Required

18,620 / 69.0% Yes votes ...... 8,364 / 31.0% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures
Results as of Dec 15 1:28pm, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (57/57)
82.9% Voter Turnout (418,335/504,505)
Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments |

Shall the Charter of the City of Richmond be amended to reduce the number of City Council members from nine to seven effective for the election scheduled for November 2008, as set forth in Section 1 of Exhibit A of City Council Resolution No. 89-04a on file in the office of the City Clerk?

Impartial Analysis from City Attorney
Based on a motion passed by a majority of the City Council, an amendment is proposed to the City's Charter to reduce the number of City Councilmembers from nine to seven effective for the election scheduled for November of 2008. At the election in November of 2008, voters will elect only three persons to the City Council rather than five persons. The three persons elected will join the four incumbents on the City Council for a total number of seven Councilmembers.

As a result of the reduction of the number of Councilmembers from nine to seven, four members of the Council will be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure R. If you desire a copy of the full text of the measure, it may be obtained from the Richmond City Clerk by calling (510) 620-6514, and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you.

  
Suggest a link related to Measure R
Links to sources outside of Smart Voter are provided for information only and do not imply endorsement.

Arguments For Measure R Arguments Against Measure R
Vote yes on Measure R for a smaller, less expensive, leaner, more efficient City Council.

Although Richmond Councilmembers love their jobs, they voted to let voters decide to cut the Council's size.

Councilmembers wouldn't have risked their positions, unless reducing the Council's size from 9 to 7 was truly necessary:

  • Other City employees have had massive reductions due to deficits, and it's fair Council could do some belt-tightening also.

  • All other Contra Costa cities (and the Board of Supervisors) have 5 members.

  • Too many Councilmembers means more squabbling and dysfunctional meetings.

  • Too many Councilmembers means paying too much in Councilmembers salaries and paying staff to support Councilmembers.

  • Too many Councilmembers means that Council is too unwieldy to become a lean, mean fighting machine that can get things done for Richmond.

You need enough people paddling a canoe to move it, but not so many that it sinks.

Having about twice as many people in our canoe as any other Contra Costa city is causing it to sink.

Some have argued this reduction will hurt ethnic diversity on Richmond's Council. This argument insults the intelligence of Richmond's voters, who have historically elected an ethnically diverse Council.

Some voters may feel there's a better way to reduce Council size. Measure R may be improved later. Meanwhile, it's an important step in the right direction. Have you ever tried making plans with nine people? It's no easier for the nine person Council to make plans for Richmond.

In our difficult financial times, we can't afford the expense and inefficiency of having too many Councilmembers.

Vote yes on measure R.

Jim Rogers, Councilmember, City of Richmond

Mindell Penn, Councilmember, City of Richmond

Tom Butt, Councilmember, City of Richmond

None filed

Contra Costa Home Page || Statewide Links || About Smart Voter || Feedback
Created: December 15, 2004 13:29 PST
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://ca.lwv.org
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.