Why We Need District Elections

San Mateo County Needs District Elections

San Mateo County is the last of the 58 counties in California to elect its supervisors at-large rather than by district. On July 13, 2010, the
current Board of Supervisors, in a 4-1 vote, refused to let voters decide in the upcoming November election whether San Mateo County should move from antiquated countywide elections to having district elections instead.

Counties, cities, school districts and special districts throughout California have adopted district elections to conform to the Voting Rights Act of 2001. At-large voting allows a majority, whether racial or political, to control an entire governing board and is less responsive to minority views and local concerns than voting by district. For example, there is a large Pilipino community who live in San Mateo County’s Supervisorial District 5 but a Pilipino candidate has never been elected to the board from that district. Local Pilipino votes are diluted by the larger white voting block across the county.

Once elected, incumbents in at-large races have won every time since 1980. They almost always run unopposed, allowing them to remain in power without having to reach out to voters and run competitive campaigns.

I support district elections. My opponent does not. I believe that we must open up the political system in our county and not continue to give an unfair advantage to those who are part of the entrenched power structure. We need to make elections more affordable and no longer force candidates to run in a countywide races that contain more voters that the entire states of Wyoming, Alaska or North Dakota.

It is an outrage that the Board of Supervisors would not allow the voters to decide the issue of district elections. By their action, the board has exposed the County to a likely and potentially expensive lawsuit filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, a group that has successfully filed 15 lawsuits against the at-large system. This type of behavior demonstrates why we need a new voice on the Board of Supervisors. I will be that voice.