{"id":1304,"date":"2011-11-10T02:26:07","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T02:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=1304"},"modified":"2011-11-10T16:08:16","modified_gmt":"2011-11-10T16:08:16","slug":"2011-emeryville-election-resultse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=1304","title":{"rendered":"2011 Emeryville Election Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

EMERYVILLE ELECTION SUMMARY \u00a0 \u00a0(Three Seats, and Three Ballot Initiatives)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Election results for the three open seats on the Emeryville City Council\u00a0as of November 9th, 2011 \u00a0were :<\/p>\n

Elected \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Not Elected <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Jacqueline Asher \u00a0 \u00a0 735 votes\u00a0\u00a0 (27.03%) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ken Bukowski \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 358 votes \u00a0 \u00a0 (13.17%)<\/p>\n

Nora Davis \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 638 votes \u00a0 \u00a0(25.30%) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Michael Webber \u00a0 \u00a0249 votes \u00a0 \u00a0( \u00a09.53%)<\/p>\n

Ruth Atkin \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 629 votes \u00a0 \u00a0(24.97%)<\/p>\n

Therefore, effective December, 2011 — the new council will comprise \u00a0(in alphabetical order): \u00a0Ruth Atkin<\/strong>, Jacqueline Asher<\/strong>, Kurt Brinkman<\/strong>, Nora Davis<\/strong>, and Jennifer West<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Every year, the five sitting councilpersons select a new Mayor and Vice-Mayor. Emeryville citizens\u00a0will watch what is essentially a changed City Council to see who will become our next mayor, and\u00a0also to observe differences in the way other council decisions may be made. This process may\u00a0become somewhat\u00a0different from what has\u00a0been done in the recent past. \u00a0Stay tuned!<\/p>\n

Results on Three Ballot Initiatives<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

o \u00a0 \u00a0 81% of Emeryville registered voters voted “Yes” on Measure C<\/strong>, which raises the business license fees from 0.08 percent of gross receipts, up to 0.10. Impact example: \u00a0Pixar Studios will have to start paying these fees, which the company “ceased to do” when Disney acquired the company.<\/p>\n

o \u00a0 \u00a0 Over 79% of the voters also voted “Yes” on Measure D<\/strong>, which raises the former cap on the current business tax from $117,000, up to $300,000\u00a0 per year. \u00a0Proponents of Measure D had argued that allowing Emeryville’s few large corporations to pay such a commensurately small percentage\u00a0of their revenues unfairly penalized all other (smaller) businesses. \u00a0Apparently the voters agreed.<\/p>\n

o \u00a0 \u00a0 By contrast<\/strong>, 65% of Emeryville voters defeated Measure F, which would have forced the City Council to replace its current in-house legal\u00a0council with an externally-contracted lawyer or firm. \u00a0Proponents argued that the present in-house council system is far more expensive than\u00a0the contractual arrangements which most similar size Bay Area towns use. Opponents of various political persuasions opposed setting a\u00a0\u00a0precedent\u00a0for\u00a0having the general electorate mandate (or “micro-manage”) what many consider Executive Branch decisions.<\/p>\n