Dimond Message Board
DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!
COUNCILMEMBER DICK SPEES AND THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS URGE A YES VOTE ON MEASURE I.
We support the League of Women Voters' Measure I, mandating elections to fill all City Council vacancies. We hope you will vote Yes on Measure I.
A complicated and confusing competing item, Measure H, requires elections only in certain limited cases. We oppose Measure H, as it does not go far enough.
Currently, our City Charter says that when a vacancy on the City Council occurs, the remaining City Councilmembers appoint a person to fill that vacancy. This means that a few as four people, none of whom may live in the district in question, can determine who will represent the thousands of people of that district.
We believe that the people of each district have the right to elect their representative to the City Council. That's why we have district elections in Oakland!
If Measure I passes, all Council vacancies will be filled by a special election within 120 days of a vacancy. There can be an extension of the deadline to 180 days if it allows the special election to be combined with a regularly scheduled election.
Measure I also states that alternative methods of voting will be used to increase voter participation in the special election. These methods can include electronic voting, voting on weekends, and/or mail-ballot voting. Experience in the State of Oregon, for example, has shown that mail-ballot voting greatly increases voter turnout.
Some say special elections are too costly. But democracy is worth the cost, and alternative methods of voting will help keep costs reasonable.
We hope you will join all of us who support Measure I on November 7. Vote Yes on Measure I. Vote No on Measure H. If both measures pass, the one that has the most Yes votes will prevail.
Dick Spees, City Councilmember, District 4
Bonnie Hamlin, Chair, Yes on I/No on H Committee
Mony Flores-Bauer, President, League of Women Voters of OaklandTo visit the Yes on I web site click here
Endorsers of Measure I (partial list at time of printing) East Bay Common Cause; American Association of University Women, Oakland-Piedmont Branch; Black Women Organized for Political Action, Oakland/Berkeley Chapter ; National Women's Political Caucus - Alameda North Chapter; Sierra Club; the Latino, Metropolitan Greater Oakland and East Bay Gay and Lesbian Democratic Clubs; Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce; *Councilmembers Dick Spees, Nancy Nadel, Nate Miley and Danny Wan; *City Attorney John Russo; *School Board Members Jean Quan, Dan Siegel, Bruce Kariya, Noel Gallo, Ken Rice, and Lucella Harrison; *Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, *Assemblywoman Audie Bock; *Peralta Community College Trustees Alona Clifton and Susan Duncan; Enrique Palacios-Trustee, Alameda County Board of Education*; Rebecca Kaplan, Audrey Rice Oliver, Lynette Jung Lee, Ed Hannemann, David Kakishiba - Exec. Director East Bay Asian Youth Center*; Greg Chan, Rita Sklar, Judy De Vries, Paul Garrison, Kathleen Crawford, Harriet Hutchinson - Teacher, OEA*; Teresa Limon; Maria Hargrove - Votantes Unidos*; Fannie Brown - ACORN Board Member*; Paul Brekkie-Miesner, Urban Strategies*; Lillian Lopez, Co-Chair Oakland Community Organizations (OCO)*.
*Titles for Identification Purposes Only
YES ON I/NO ON H, 5856 College Ave #217, Oakland 94618 (510) 217-3879 YesOnI@metron.com