Concord council doesn’t want rules for mayoral selection

CONCORD, CA (Dec. 20, 2024) — After it became clear the votes weren’t there, Mayor Edi Birsan dropped a proposal to update the policy on mayoral rotation.

Like neighboring cities Clayton and Pleasant Hill, Concord doesn’t have a directly elected mayor. Instead, the City Council meets each December to select a new mayor and vice mayor – typically following a predictable pattern.
However, Birsan noted that politics and failed interpersonal relationships have led to changes in the expected rotation in all three cities.

The current Concord procedure, which will remain in effect, states: “The City Council shall annually reorganize, choosing from amongst its members who should serve as Mayor and Vice Mayor for the coming year.”

The council Committee on Policy Development and Internal Operations, comprised of Birsan and Vice Mayor Carlyn Obringer, had proposed more clearly defined options:

• If there is only one nomination for the position of mayor and one for vice mayor, they both will be appointed.
• In the event of two or more nominations for a single position, the candidate who has not held the position the longest shall be appointed.
• If tied, the candidate with the highest percentage of votes in their last election shall be appointed.
• A candidate shall not serve as mayor in their first year of office.

Questions about the language

At the Nov. 12 meeting, Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister stated that the revisions were unclear and potentially unfair.

She pointed out that it didn’t make sense to base the selection on the highest vote percentage. “One district could have five candidates running and the other district could have two, or nobody,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the right way to do anything because of the district situation. If it was at-large, I could understand it.”

In addition, she questioned the criteria for a tie – assuming it meant that the council was locked 2-2 on a candidate. Obringer explained that the tie referred to a situation in which both councilmembers under consideration had been on the council for the same length of time.

Councilmember Dominic Aliano seized on Hoffmeister’s concerns, saying: “As we just saw a moment ago with the questions from Councilmember Hoffmeister, I really still don’t feel comfortable moving forward with this because to me, this looks a little too descriptive from what we previously discussed and, at the same time, it’s not descriptive enough to answer a lot of the questions that are there,” he said. “It’s just going to make things a lot more confusing and a lot more complicated.”

Councilmember Laura Nakamura concurred with Hoffmeister and Aliano.

“I do support a very fair rotation for the mayoral appointments and vice mayor, but I do think that the council should have the ability to make those appointments without it being prescriptive in a way that might tie the council’s hands when there might be a different choice that presents itself for the best of the city,” she said. “And that is why we were elected – to make the decisions that best address the needs of our city and reflect the council that we are.”

Issues of fairness, politics

Obringer said her goal with the proposal was to “just try to be fair, to make sure that nobody gets skipped, that everybody gets their chance.”

Birsan, who brought the issue before the council in Feburary, expressed disappointment with the lack of support. He said the changes would have taken politics out of the decision.

“Every city that’s adjacent to us – Clayton, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek – has in turn changed what would be considered a normal rotation. And in every single case, it has been not in the interest of the city, but because of the political and interpersonal relationships that were broken in their councils again and again,” said Birsan, who was passed over for the vice mayor role in 2015 in a move he called “political retribution.”

Although Birsan hadn’t held a leadership position since his election in 2012, the council voted for Ron Leone as vice mayor. According to the East Bay Times, Leone chided Birsan for supporting challengers when three councilmembers were up for reelection.

Birsan, who has since been mayor in 2018 and 2024, has also long advocated for a mayor elected by the public. However, after his defeat in the November election, that dream won’t be fulfilled anytime soon.

Delving into past decisions

The last time Concord didn’t follow the presumed rotation was 2020, when Aliano opted to stay as vice mayor so Tim McGallian could serve another term as mayor because of his familiarity with the issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had very specific things I was managing in relation to disaster response for the city of Concord and the region,” McGallian told the Pioneer. He noted that both Aliano and Hoffmeister – who was next in rotation for vice mayor – supported him staying as mayor.

In contrast, things became contentious in Clayton when Jeff Wan didn’t move up to mayor that same year. The changeup came after a divisive election during which some councilmembers said Wan supported disinformation and negative tactics.

Councilmember Holly Tillman said the 3-2 vote to support CW Wolfe also was triggered by Wan’s “treatment of other councilmembers, voting records in regard to the best interests of our city and leadership qualities.”

Councilmember Jim Diaz called the move “wrong and unacceptable,” adding that it “further divides our already divided city.”

The Clayton council did select Wan for mayor in 2022, during his second term.

In Pleasant Hill, Jack Weir didn’t advance to mayor in 2013. Although it was said that Weir was the most conservative member of the council, the three councilmembers who voted against him didn’t offer an explanation.
“I am humiliated and I’m embarrassed for this council,” Weir said, according to the East Bay Times. “I think what you did is inappropriate and an embarrassment to this city.”

For McGallian, it all comes down to the relationships among the councilmembers.

“Remember,” he said, “the mayor doesn’t have power but is the figurehead for the council. So, if the council doesn’t trust your decision-making or how you’re going to work with all the colleagues or other cities, then maybe you’re not ready yet.”