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Voters in San Mateo County signaled support for the Board of Supervisors getting extra time to figure out how to fill a seat in an elective office when it becomes vacant. Measure J, which would double the current 30 days, pulled out to a big lead in early results announced on election night, with 73.35% voting in favor to 26.65% opposed.
The preliminary results include only mail-in ballots received by Friday, Oct. 30. The next update to the vote count is set for 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office.
Currently, whenever a vacancy occurs in an elected position, the board has 30 days to either make an appointment or call for a special election. Measure J on the Nov. 3 ballot proposed doubling the time limit to 60 days and also requiring the board to hold at least one public meeting prior to appointing someone.
The measure was placed on the ballot by the board, as 30 days may be too much of a time crunch to find qualified candidates, interview them and get public feedback if the board decides to fill a vacancy through appointment.
The board experienced the reality of the 30-day timeframe a year ago when it ousted former Sheriff Christina Corpus over misconduct and abuse of authority. Supervisors had to quickly decide whether to appoint her replacement or hold a special election.
Once the board decided to fill the vacancy through appointment, county staff and the board had to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to craft and post the job opening, identify qualified applicants, interview candidates in several rounds, and hold public meetings in a rushed process in order meet the 30-day deadline.
No opposing arguments for Measure J were submitted to the county’s Elections Division.
This story was written by Alise Maripuu for Bay City News and updated with election results by Embarcadero Media staff.
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