20130314_Presentation_Anaheim_Election_Costs_Sarah_Hill Assistant Professor, CSUF
Sarah A. Hill, Ph.D.
Selection
Magnitude, and Mayoral
Cost of Elections, City Council
Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters
$472,000 -$419,000
Special (stand alone) election
238,700 $185,000
Primary election
additional measure$8500 per
186,000 $146,000
Consolidated general election
(2014)
Cost estimates for holding an election
Election Costs
for the city (offices and staff)
It will mean additional operational costs
costs
members will not change election
Increasing the number of council
Unless a primary runoff is added
incurs no additional election costs
large to districts -Changing from at
Election Costs
needed
Or keep a plurality vote so that not runoff is
voting (at present)
urrent system cannot handle rank choice cBut
Mitigate the costs with an instant runoff
double
Increases the election costs by more than
Pay for the runoff in the general election
Pay for the primary
System
Runoff Changing to a Primary
Mayor runs day to day operations
Strong Mayoral System (Los Angeles)
operations
Professional Manager runs day to day
Explicitly listed in Charter
Ceremonial Functions
Agenda Setting
Has a vote with City Council
Mayor has a weak role
Mayor, Council, & Manager
naheim) AWeak Mayoral system (
enure as mayor may be short or ineffectual T
members
istribute agenda setting function between all D
Rotating office within the council membership
elected by district)
localized interests (accentuated where council
Stable leadership, but may be beholden to
Chosen each term from council membership
localized interests
Responsiveness to entire citizenry rather than
Large public election-At
Election or Choice of Mayor
concerns
districts who provide a voice for local
Most of these have councils elected by
needed for large cities
A unifying voice and symbol is often
large-Anaheim elect the mayor at
Clear pattern that larger cities like
Election or Choice of Mayor
interests
Can lead to fragmentation of power and
Decreases the threshold to membership
Increases accessibility to council members
Increases diversity of membership
number of elected seats?
What happens when you expand the
its size.
per capita than most comparable cities
Council Magnitude
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 5,901 Villa Park, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 5 11,620 Los Alamitos, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 15,807 La Palma, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 16,438 Laguna Woods, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 23,069 Laguna Beach, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed District 5 24,536 Seal Beach, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 30,804 Laguna Hills, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 33,858 Dana Point, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 35,123 San Juan Capistrano, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 38,765 Stanton, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 39,883 Brea, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 5 48,526 Cypress, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 48,549 Aliso Viejo, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 48,587 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 5 51,302 Placentia, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 56,153 Fountain Valley, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 61,164 La Habra, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 63,940 Laguna Niguel, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 64,491 San Clemente, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 65,215 Yorba Linda, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 76,689 Tustin, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 78,439 Lake Forest, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 5 81,747 Buena Park, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 7 86,484 Newport Beach, CA
Manager-Council General Law Large-At large-At 5 91,064 Westminster, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 94,721 Mission Viejo, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 111,600 Costa Mesa, CA
Manager-Council General Law Council Appointed large-At 5 137,183 Fullerton, CA
Manager-Council General Law Large-At large-At 5 138,409 Orange, CA
Manager-Council General Law Large-At large-At 5 173,470 Garden Grove, CA
Manager-Council Charter Council Appointed large-At 7 192,888 Huntington Beach, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At large-At 5 215,529 Irvine, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At large-At 7 296,357 Stockton, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At District 8 310,651 Riverside, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At large-At 7 329,427 Santa Ana, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At large-At 5 341,361 Anaheim, CA
Manager-Council Charter Large-At 8 352,428 Bakersfield, CA
District
Council-Mayor Charter Large-At Hybrid 9 395,817 Oakland, CA
City
Law Composition Size
FormGeneral or Charter Mayor Selection CouncilCouncil Population
*St. Louis (30 council, 318,000 pop) & San Jose (11 council, 1million pop) omitted
450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0
0
1
2
3
Anaheim
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Population
City Council size by City
have found to work well
This is some indication of what other cities
that are similar to Anaheim
cons of each and the patterns in cities
but we can identify general pros and
No system is perfect in every situation,
Districts vsAt Large
resources
winning candidates
geographic fights over
likely to generate
Potential to limit
ffluent areas are more A
council cohesiveness
citizenry broadly
Potential to increase
Less representative of
multiple members
Court findingsCitizens have access to
city
Academic literature
minority interestsinterest of the entire
Potential suppression of Officials appeal to the
&RQV3URV
arge electionsL-At
Who draws them?
Gerrymandering
boundaries
council actions
Concerns over district
Increased legitimacy of
increased diversity
neighborhood issues
consensus because of
More representation of
Potential for less
Racial / Ethnic
the entire city
specific district rather than
Geographically
They are beholden to a
representation
elected officials
Increased diversity in
Narrower interests from
&RQV3URV
Multiple District, Single Member
have the same diversity concerns
large because they do not -to be at
Suburban homogenous districts tend
city council
minority groups are represented on the
districts so that communities and
large, diverse cities tend to adopt
What we can say in general is that
Districts vsAt Large
large seats-tend to win at
Concern that affluent areas would
concerns with interest of entire city
Balances community and minority
to Anaheim
Common in cities with similar populations
large-Districts with some seats elected at
system
Another option would be a hybrid
Hybrid
districts in council elections
Large cities tend to make some use of
council members
Large cities tend to have more than 5
mayors
large -Large cities tend to select at
not necessarily change election costs
Changing the electoral system does
Summary