Chula Vista’s new City Council members — whomever they may be — have been given the gift of giving just in time for the holiday season.
With three of the seats set — Mary Salas is the city’s new mayor, Pat Aguilar won her re-election bid and Pamela Bensoussan has two years left on her final term — two of the five chairs on the council dais, as of today, are still up for grabs.
Last week it appeared John McCann held a comfortable lead and victory over his opponent Steve Padilla, but as the ballots were tallied since then McCann’s lead has slipped to a few dozen. Whether McCann or Padilla return to council — both have served before — won’t be known definitively until early December, when the registrar of voters finalizes the November election results.
Even after one of those men is sworn in, the council will stillhave only four of five positions filled because Salas is vacating her seat to take over the mayor’s office. Nevertheless, lucky are the elected elves who get to give Chula Vista residents what they deserve: a reason to believe in the integrity of their new representatives.
The previous City Council wasn’t trustworthy but anyone watching the way City Manager Gary Halbert was selected — chosen in closed session the same afternoon the City Council had sought public input into the qualities a new city manager should posses even though no other candidates were publicly known — ought to be forgiven for thinking the public gesture was a farce and waste of time because the mayor and seats 1 through 4 already had their man in mind.
But now the mayor and her threesome can remove any doubt of their integrity and motivation.
They can leave the decision of who fills Salas’s seat up to residents by calling for a special election.
Opponents will decry the cost of leaving the choice to voters, but do you really want to let a price tag prevent you from giving people the opportunity to choose who represents them at City Hall? If so, let’s start talking about that spending cap now so we can plan accordingly.
While there is a strong chance that voter burnout will see a disinteresed public ignore and throw away the right to vote, nevertheless the opportunity to vote and participate in the most basic act of representative governance should be made available, whether it’s to 250,000 people or 25.
Politicians, politicos and talking heads religiously urge people to get out to the polls and have their voice heard during the presidential and gubernatorial elections. Time and again when talks turn to veterans and the military, the public is told men and women “died for your right to vote.” Fair enough.
Then shouldn’t the right to vote and be heard extend to special elections in off years when a City Council vacancy has to be filled? Or are all bets off when an opportunity to stack the deck in your favor presents itself to a new City Council?
