Should SLO County voters fill vacant elected positions? Charter plan could end appointments
Is the time of the local government appointment on its way out?
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors took a preliminary step Tuesday toward significantly changing the way vacant elected positions are filled, with the majority of the board asking for county staff to start work on a charter that would potentially be put before voters in the November election.
The charter would specify that vacant elected county positions should be filled not by appointment, but instead by voters, except in specific circumstances.
“I just think that the closer you can put it to the people and let them decide, the better,” Supervisor Lynn Compton said during discussion. “Hopefully, we don’t have any vacancies, but vacancies do happen, unfortunately.”
Compton won her Fourth District seat in 2014 against Arroyo Grande Mayor Caren Ray-Russom. Ray-Russom had been appointed to the Board of Supervisors following the death of the late Supervisor Paul Teixeira.
“I think letting the people decide rather than sliding someone in that the governor knows or wants or lobbies the governor, I just think it’s the more fair option to do,” Compton said Tuesday.
Why pursue election charter now?
On Tuesday, supervisors said they would like to see county staff draft a charter that would require elections be held for vacant elected positions with more than 180 days remaining on their term.
This could either be a special election or could be consolidated with an upcoming general election, depending on the timing, according to county staff.
For vacancies with fewer than six months left on the term, the position would either go unfilled or potentially could be appointed if the position is a critical operational role.
Rather than leaving a decision on who should fill the vacancy up to themselves or the governor, this puts the decision in front of voters instead, supervisors said.
“I personally never want to go through another situation like we did a couple months ago with the clerk appointment,” Supervisor John Peschong said during discussion. “I do believe that all of these positions should go through the electoral process and the will of the voters.”
Two high-profile SLO County elected positions have had to be filled via appointment in as many years: one on the board of supervisors itself and another for county clerk-recorder.
Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, who represents District 3, was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in November 2020 to fill the vacant board spot left by the death of Supervisor Adam Hill.
Then in June 2021, former County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong announced he was leaving the county for a new position in the Bay Area, citing a particularly dramatic board meeting filled with hours of election misinformation and racism as one of the reasons for his departure.
With almost a year left on his term, the Board of Supervisors began an often highly contentious search for his replacement. They ultimately chose to appoint current Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano in October 2021.
Some supervisors oppose push to add SLO County charter
The board voted 3-2 in favor of beginning work on a charter, with supervisors Ortiz-Legg and Bruce Gibson opposing.
Gibson said he felt the push was politically motivated by a Republican majority of the board to avoid Democratic appointments, and would ultimately be a costly endeavor for the county.
“We’re asking the taxpayers to foot something that doesn’t really need to be done,” he said. “We are setting ourselves up to spend as much as $1 million in a special election that doesn’t really need to be done. And we have mechanisms in place that I think are absolutely fair to the voters of this county and at the same time responsible to the public.”
The cost to hold a special election for a county-wide position outside of a general election is estimated at $1 million, while a special election for a district position is $354,000, according to county staff. Consolidating those with a general election would cost $313,000 and $66,000, respectively.
The cost to put the charter on the upcoming ballot is estimated at $353,000.
The county will hold a special night meeting to gain public input on the topic April 5, followed by a meeting May 17.
According to county staff, the board must decide on the issue by June 21 if it wishes to put the charter consideration on November’s ballot.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 11:50 AM.
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