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Voters get it right with measures H, I and J

Watsonville residents made the right call by overwhelmingly approving measures H, I and J on June 3. Under the new rules, voters will select their city council representative and name public places, and the mayor will be chosen on a rotating basis. The current district election system came thanks to Dolores Cruz Gomez v. the City of Watsonville, in which a group of local activists said Watsonville's at-large system was disenfranchising Latino voters. Indeed, that seemed to be the case. In 1987, voters elected three City Council members from the same neighborhood. Today's district elections system balanced the scales by building a diverse council and a better-represented city. But the system also allowed the City Council to appoint members when their term ended early, and appoint the mayor. This has led to some council members being unduly ignored. In a Democracy, the people choose their leaders, not politicians.

Opponents of Measure I say choosing a mayor on a rotating basis will allow new, inexperienced council members to take the top seat. But those same opponents seem to have forgotten that Eduardo Montesino had almost no political experience when he was elected in 2010, but was appointed as mayor after serving only one year. Karina Cervantez, while she came onto the board with significantly more political experience, was also appointed as mayor during her only second year on the council. At the same time, the council has repeatedly passed over Nancy Bilicich, whose experience, expertise and approachability more than qualify her for the role. To be fair, Bilicich was vice-mayor when Luis Alejo filled the mayor's seat. But to say that experience, or lack thereof, are factors in mayoral appointment clearly is an argument without merit. Measure I will bring diversity to the mayor's seat that is currently lacking on the City Council.

Find out what's happening in Watsonvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Opponents of the measures point to low voter turnout from the June 3 election, suggesting that somehow diminishes the three measures' overwhelming passage. It's true that turnout was disappointingly dismal. Just 30 percent of Watsonville's 14,523 registered voters bothered to cast their ballot. But a Register-Pajaronian review of district-by-district numbers show the votes in favor of the measures were evenly spread throughout the city. We wonder whether the opponents would be singing the same tune if the measures had failed.

The biggest complaint about the measures seemed to center on signature gathering and funding. Allegations that "most" of the thousands of signatures that qualified the measures for the ballot were gathered by paid gatherers were unfounded. When questioned by this newspaper none of the opponents could offer proof of those charges. In fact, all of them said they had no idea how many signatures the professionals gathered. Similarly, the opponents offered no proof of their allegations that the supporters did not report some of their donations. State and local elections officials, in addition to an investigation by this newspaper, all pointed to the same conclusion: The supporters a group of Watsonville residents known as Let the People Vote duly reported all their contributions and expenditures. Suggestions by one council member of conspiratorial goings-on and of "dark money" were not backed up by any evidence, nor was any offered. Let the People Vote members say the bulk of their efforts came through grassroots, door-to-door campaigning, and the Register-Pajaronian has seen no evidence to the contrary.

Find out what's happening in Watsonvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Finally, the opponents say it will somehow be more difficult to name public places after Latinos after Measure J passed, despite the fact that the city's population is overwhelmingly Latino. Should that issue ever come up again, voters will decide it on its merits, just as they should. The opponents did have two things right: the new rules will sometimes result in expensive special elections, and in the case of council appointments, the districts in question will be left without representation as the election is pending.
But the issues come up rarely, and really, a true Democracy shouldn't be fettered by a price tag.
We fail to see how allowing voters to pick their leaders will have a deleterious effect on the city, despite several disingenuous arguments to the contrary. This is not a Latino issue. In fact, race has nothing to do with it. Thanks to measures H, I and J, all voters will be empowered to have their voices heard. That is, of course, if they choose to come to the polls.

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By the Register-Pajaronian Editorial Board.

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