EMERYVILLE ELECTION SUMMARY (Three Seats, and Three Ballot Initiatives)
Election results for the three open seats on the Emeryville City Council as of November 9th, 2011 were :
Elected Not Elected
Jacqueline Asher 735 votes (27.03%) Ken Bukowski 358 votes (13.17%)
Nora Davis 638 votes (25.30%) Michael Webber 249 votes ( 9.53%)
Ruth Atkin 629 votes (24.97%)
Therefore, effective December, 2011 — the new council will comprise (in alphabetical order): Ruth Atkin, Jacqueline Asher, Kurt Brinkman, Nora Davis, and Jennifer West.
Every year, the five sitting councilpersons select a new Mayor and Vice-Mayor. Emeryville citizens will watch what is essentially a changed City Council to see who will become our next mayor, and also to observe differences in the way other council decisions may be made. This process may become somewhat different from what has been done in the recent past. Stay tuned!
Results on Three Ballot Initiatives
o 81% of Emeryville registered voters voted “Yes” on Measure C, which raises the business license fees from 0.08 percent of gross receipts, up to 0.10. Impact example: Pixar Studios will have to start paying these fees, which the company “ceased to do” when Disney acquired the company.
o Over 79% of the voters also voted “Yes” on Measure D, which raises the former cap on the current business tax from $117,000, up to $300,000 per year. Proponents of Measure D had argued that allowing Emeryville’s few large corporations to pay such a commensurately small percentage of their revenues unfairly penalized all other (smaller) businesses. Apparently the voters agreed.
o By contrast, 65% of Emeryville voters defeated Measure F, which would have forced the City Council to replace its current in-house legal council with an externally-contracted lawyer or firm. Proponents argued that the present in-house council system is far more expensive than the contractual arrangements which most similar size Bay Area towns use. Opponents of various political persuasions opposed setting a precedent for having the general electorate mandate (or “micro-manage”) what many consider Executive Branch decisions.
Measure F was a proclamation of a lack of confidence in the city council. The reasons to remove Mike Biddle, the City Attorney are legion but the council is too timid to even consider what Jennifer West says is their prerogative (to remove Biddle or others who serve at their pleasure).
The NO on F people act as if there were no culture of self preservation at all at City Hall and the mechanisms that now exist are perfect and will result in perfect outcomes. Of course, it’s patently absurd.
All one has to do is ask oneself how Mike Biddle was able to survive his central role in the $4.6 million lawsuit from fired city employee Leslie Pollard. That happened years ago and still he sits in his office at City Hall.
This council is too timid to use its power to protect us. Measure F would have sent a message to them to do their job…it’s unfortunate that it lost because the culture at City Hall has always really been about protecting Mr Biddle and other manager employees, not us.