Atascadero

Atascadero City Council rejects allowing voters to elect mayor

Potentially higher stipend costs for a directly elected mayor are cited by the opposition

By AnnMarie Cornejo

The Atascadero City Council voted down an effort by one of its members to consider changing the council’s mayor seat to an elected position.

Atascadero is the only city of the county’s seven that does not have voters elect their mayor directly. Instead, the city rotates the position among the five council members for one-year terms.

Councilman Jerry Clay asked the council to consider putting a measure on the November ballot to ask voters whether they want to elect their mayor directly. The measure would also ask whether the mayor’s term should be two years or four.

A 3-2 vote against the idea Tuesday night stopped Clay’s suggestion from moving forward to a public discussion at a future council meeting. Mayor Mike Brennler, Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Beraud and Councilman George Luna voted in the majority,

“I think we have grown to a point where it is time we elect a mayor,” Clay said Wednesday. “It was very disappointing to me that the council majority didn’t feel it important enough to let the public weigh in.”

If the measure had been on the ballot and were approved,

Atascadero voters could have picked a mayor in the 2010 general election.

Beraud said she voted against Clay’s proposal because she felt the position would then require a bigger stipend, something she said the city cannot afford to consider under current budget constraints. Council members, including the acting mayor, receive a $300 monthly stipend.

Brennler and Luna said council discussions about campaign reform should come first.

“We need to make sure that when campaigns occur that they are honest,” Brennler said Wednesday. “I think it is premature to consider an elected mayor now, but I can see supporting it in the future.”

Councilman Tom O’Malley, who supported Clay’s proposal, said he would bring it back in the future.

“It benefits our community by someone making a longer-term commitment,” O’Malley said. “We should give the choice to the community.”

Reach AnnMarie Cornejo at 781-7939.