City: Industrial Park Residence Means Ernst Can't Run for Council

A Benicia planning commissioner can't run for City Council because he lives in an area of the city that isn't zoned for residential use, city officials say.

wouldn't give Planning Commissioner candidacy papers Monday, because the address Ernst gave as his residence and where he is registered to vote is 3001 Bayshore Road, Unit 23. That location is zoned General Industrial, and residential use is not allowed in areas with that zoning designation, meaning he is precluded from running for City Council, Wolfe said.

The nomination and filing period for candidates for Benicia City Council and mayor and for school board opened on Monday. Candidates for City Council and mayor must have their nomination papers returned to City Hall by 5 p.m. Aug. 12.

Ernst wants to run but said it isn't his decision. "It's up to her (Wolfe)," he said. "If she says I can't run, then I can't run."

The nomination papers provided to candidates by the city do not mention a requirement that a candidate for Benicia City Council must live in a legal residence.

State law governing eligibility of candidates for City Council, California Goverment Code 36502(a), reads as follows:

A person is not eligible to hold office as councilmember, city clerk, or city treasurer unless he or she is at the time of assuming the office an elector of the city, and was a registered voter of the city at the time nomination papers are issued to the candidate as provided for in Section 10227 of the Elections Code. 

An elector is defined in the elections code as any person who is a United States citizen 18 years of age or older and a resident of an election precinct at least 15 days prior to an election.

Ernst said he previously had claimed a residence on London Circle but that he no longer lives there. He said he has been registered to vote at the Bayshore Road address for at least five years.

Ernst's position on the Planning Commission is not in jeopardy, as commissioners do not have to live in a legal residence, according to city code.

Section 10227 of the Elections Code says:

All forms required for nomination and election to all municipal offices shall be furnished only by the city elections official during regular business hours. At the time of issuance of those forms the city elections official shall type in the forms the name of the candidate and the office for which he is a candidate, shall imprint a stamp which reads "Official Filing Form," and shall affix his or her signature. At the time nomination papers are issued to a candidate, the city elections official shall imprint the date.

The forms shall be distributed without charge to all candidates applying for them.

City Attorney Heather Mclaughlin couldn't cite a law in either the Benicia Municipal Code or in state code that stated a candidate for City Council had to live in a legal residence.

Because Benicia is a general law city, requirements of candidates are defined by state law.

An official at the Solano County Registrar of Voters office, who refused to be named, said that to be a registered voter "you just need to be a resident of Solano County. We'll register a homeless person if they can tell us a location in the county where they usually stay."

Asked what he will do if Wolfe changes her position Ernst said, "Well then, I'll run. I see Dan Smith is in there, but I don't see him as a particular threat."

"It's very frustrating," said Ernst.