Esther Jimenez for San Bernardino City Clerk Mailer

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

City Clerk Candidate Esther Jimenez has published a mailer on her Facebook page.  Here is the front of the mailer, here is the back of the mailer.

The front (or what I call the front, the side without an address), has a series of three photographs under the title “Life of Service . . .” in script letters.

The first photograph is Esther Jimenez with 5th District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, titled “National Night Out Promoting Safety with Supervisor Josie Gonzales.” The second photograph says “Salute to the Route Commemorating our Veterans.”  The third photograph says “San Bernardino Beautification Day Pitching in on community clean up.”

In the middle of the front is a text box with the title “Esther’s supporters include:”

Senator Gloria Negrete-McLeod

32nd Senate District

Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter

62nd Assembly District

Chairman James Ramos

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and San Bernardino Valley Community College Board Member

Dr. Hardy Brown

Owner of the Black Voice News

Dr. Tom Rivera

Retired CSUSB Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies

Eloise Reyes

Attorney

Gloria Macias Harrison

President of Crafton Hills Community College

Tim Prince

Attorney

Dr. George Small

Private Practice

Frank Schnetz

Business Owner

Dr. Barbara Stanfield

Private Practice

Frances Grice

Life-long San Bernardino Resident and Community Leader

On the right side of the mailer is another text box with a picture of Esther Jimenez.  The bullet points say:

• Born and raised in San Bernardino
• Graduate of San Bernardino Valley College and University of California, Riverside
• Senior Legislative Assistant for the State of California Assembly
• Experience with local, county, state and federal legislation, codes and statutes
• A person of integrity: Selected by Supervisor Josie Gonzales and received the “Herstory  Award” from the SB County Commission on the Status of Women; “Citizen Achievement Award” from the League of Women Voters of San Bernardino, and other acknowledgements throughout her decades of community service.
• Truly INDEPENDENT and NOT beholden to any other elected City Official

The text box continues:

Vote for . . .

Integrity

Transparency

Independence

Vote Esther Jimenez for City Clerk!

The back of the mailer has the following text:

IMPORTANT VOTER MESSAGE!

Esther Jimenez will bring . . .

Indepenence

Integrity

Honesty

Transparency

to the office of City Clerk

Vote November 8th Jimenez San Bernardino City Clerk

 

The information you obtain at this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading or commenting on this blog. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.

Copyright 2011 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Address : 1255 W. Colton Ave., Suite 104

Redlands, CA 92374

Telephone: (909) 708-6055

Email: michael@michaelreiterlaw.com

Website: http://michaelreiterlaw.com

Ballot Order In The November 8, 2011 San Bernardino City Elections

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

The order of candidates on ballots is determined by a random drawing done  by  the California Secretary of State’s Office.  The drawing  for the November elections statewide was done on August 18, 2011.  The drawing determines who goes first, by surname, which continues if people have similar surnames, like Reiter and Reid.

Why does it matter?  It takes any politics out of the order of candidates.  Why does that matter?  Because of a phenomenon called the primacy effect or ballot order effect.  The Secretary of State’s website claims: this “procedure was established by legislation passed in 1975 in response to court rulings declaring that standard alphabetical order or incumbent-first was unconstitutional since there is a 5% positional bias among undecided voters.”  The ruling that the Secretary of State’s website is referring to is Gould v. Grubb (1975) 14 Cal.3d 661.  The court found that “incumbent-first” and alphabetical order violated the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution’s equal protection clause.

The order of the randomized draw for this election  is:

1. F. 2. Q 3. Y 4. K 5.O 6. C 7. H 8. U 9. T 10. G 11. B 12. I 13. S 14. A 15. V 16. W 17. E 18. X 19. L 20. Z 21. N 22. J 23. R 24. M 25. D 26. P.

This drawing is done pursuant to California Elections Code section 13112 which reads, in pertinent part:

13112. The Secretary of State shall conduct a drawing of the letters of the alphabet, the result of which shall be known as a randomized alphabet. The procedure shall be as follows:

(a) Each letter of the alphabet shall be written on a separate slip of paper, each of which shall be folded and inserted into a capsule. Each capsule shall be opaque and of uniform weight, color, size, shape, and texture. The capsules shall be placed in a container, which shall be shaken vigorously in order to mix the capsules thoroughly. The container then shall be opened and the capsules removed at random one at a time. As each is removed, it shall be opened and the letter on the slip of paper read aloud and written down. The resulting random order of letters constitutes the randomized alphabet, which is to be used in the same manner as the conventional alphabet in determining the order of all candidates in all elections. For example, if two candidates with the surnames Campbell and Carlson are running for the same office, their order on the ballot will depend on the order in which the letters M and R were drawn in the randomized alphabet drawing.

(b) (1) There shall be six drawings, three in each even-numbered year and three in each odd-numbered year. Each drawing shall be held at 11 a.m. on the date specified in this subdivision. The results of each drawing shall be mailed immediately to each county elections official responsible for conducting an election to which the drawing is applicable, who shall use it in determining the order on the ballot of the names of the candidates for office.

. . .

(F) The sixth drawing under this subdivision shall take place on the 82nd day before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the odd-numbered year, and shall apply to all candidates on the ballot in the elections held on that date. (2) In the event there is to be an election of candidates to a special district, school district, charter city, or other local government body at the same time as one of the five major election dates specified in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, and the last possible day to file nomination papers for the local election would occur after the date of the drawing for the major election date, the procedure set forth in Section 13113 shall apply.

(c) Each randomized alphabet drawing shall be open to the public. At least 10 days prior to a drawing, the Secretary of State shall notify the news media and other interested parties of the date, time, and place of the drawing. The president of each statewide association of local officials with responsibilities for conducting elections shall be invited by the Secretary of State to attend each drawing or send a representative. The state chairman of each qualified political party shall be invited to attend or send a representative in the case of drawings held to determine the order of candidates on the primary election ballot, the November general election ballot, or a special election ballot as provided for in subdivision (d).
. . .

Looking at the San Bernardino City Unified School District election for Candidate for Governing Board Member, the order is:

Anna M. Cox

Willard A. Hughes

Margaret B. Hill

Mike Gallo

Lynda K. Savage

Damon L. Alexander

Elsa Valdez

Juan M. Lopez

Henry William Nickel

Gil Navarro

Dan Deane

Teresa Parra

Sharon “Bobbie” Perong

For the City of San Bernardino races:

For City Attorney

David L. McKenna

James F. “Jim” Penman

For City Clerk:

Peggi Hazlett

Georgeann “Gigi” Hanna

Amelia Sanchez-Lopez

William A. Valle

Esther Jimenez

For City Treasurer

David C. Kennedy

For Candidate for City Council, Ward 3:

Tobin Brinker

John Valdivia

For Candidate for City Council Ward 5

Chas A. Kelley

Larry A. Lee

For Candidate for City Council Ward 6

Rikke Van Johnson

For Candidate for City Council Ward 7

Wendy McCammack

James Mulvihill

What is particularly amusing about the randomized draw is that all four City Council Member incumbents are listed first, even with the randomized drawing.  Of course, only three are contested, and each are two person races, so the probability of that happening at random is not that unusual.

Copyright 2011 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Address : 1255 W. Colton Ave., Suite 104

                     Redlands, CA 92374

Telephone: (909) 708-6055

Email: michael@michaelreiterlaw.com

Website: http://michaelreiterlaw.com