Opponents blast proposal to make 3 county offices appointed
The county Board of Supervisors today was scheduled to consider placing measures on the November ballot asking voters whether they wish to convert three currently elected county offices to appointment by the board.
The offices are Clerk-Recorder, Treasurer-Tax Collector and Auditor-Controller.
Even before its formal presentation, the idea faced stiff blow-back Monday.
“I feel it is another over step by the board of supervisors, just as the previous board that made the Voter Registrar an appointed position,” Eric Montoya Reyes, organizer of Los Amigos de la Comunidad IV, said Monday when asked for comment.
“It takes the power away from the public and leaves the decision making to a small group instead of the voting majority. Eliminating voting positions diminishes voting in general at a time when people are losing faith in the voting process,” he added.
All three offices were on the June 7 ballot and the winners will be starting their terms in January.
Clerk-Recorder Chuck
Storey defeated a challenger, while Auditor-Controller Karina B. Alvarez and Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Suzanne C. Bermudez ran unopposed. Alvarez had already been appointed by the board to complete the term of her predecessor, who was removed following a criminal conviction. Bermudez ran to replace incumbent Karen Vogel, who did not seek another term.
Storey, who has held his office since 2011, blasted the proposal.
“I absolutely think it is a violation of the public’s rights. The public just spoke again and re-elected me,” he said.
“The public is going to realize this is the board trying to take over county offices.”
The reports for the board meeting on the proposed changes to appointed positions were prepared by County Counsel Eric Havens.
“Previously, your board has instructed the County Counsel to prepare a ballot initiative that would convert the office of Clerk-Recorder from an elective office to an appointive office pursuant to section 24009 of the California Government Code,” Havens wrote in a cover letter for the proposal.
“…the conversion…requires that the proposed ordinance classifying the office as appointed has been submitted to, and received a majority vote of, the county electors affirming the ordinance,” the letter added.
A similar letter was written for the Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector offices.
Havens’ reports include wording for an ordinance that would place the question for all three offices on the Nov. 8 ballot. Passage would require a simple majority.
Similar action was taken several years ago to convert the Registrar of Voters to an appointed position, a move that not only has been questioned, but also has had calls for reversal amid missteps in recent elections by the county Elections Department the Registrar oversees.
Reyes said he fears the move would damage voter enthusiasm.
“Imperial County has a history of apathetic participation in matters of government and this will only make it worse as people will say ‘It does not matter; they always do what they want.’”
To Reyes’ point, county voter turnout in the recent primary was just over 22 percent, the lowest for a primary in at least a decade.
State law allows counties to convert elected offices to appointed with the exceptions of supervisor, district attorney, assessor and sheriff, Havens’ report states. Such a proposal may come from a board or a petition.
Auditor-Controller Alvarez and county board Chairman Jesus Eduardo Escobar could not be immediately reached for comment.