Divided Council Approves Even-Year Elections, One-Time Term Extension

Benicia's city elections will now be held in even-numbered years, a move that officials hope will increase voter turnout and save money by consolidating with state contests.

The Benicia City Council approved the change 3-2 Tuesday night, and will now ask the county board of supervisors to give it the final OK.

An unintended consequence of the move divided the Benicia City Council Tuesday night–the fact that the change will require each sitting council member to extend his or her term by one year to sync up with the new elections.

"My underlying problem is the idea of any politician unilaterally extending his term without the consent of voters," Vice Mayor Tom Campbell said.

He said the council should hold the 2013 election as scheduled, and add a question asking voters their opinion of changing election years. That motion failed in a 1-4 vote.

Council Member Mark Hughes agreed with Campbell, but asked for terms to temporarily shortened instead of extended.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said there wasn't any simple way to move election years without extending council members' terms, and she and Council Member Christina Strawbridge worried about an increased election cost if the city didn't switch election years along with the school district and others in the county.

"I've had a lot of citizens at the store or on the street come up to me and say this is a very good idea," Strawbridge said. "I'm not getting a big sense out there that there are people who don't want us to continue another year."

Campbell and Hughes voted against the final motion.

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