The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

A simpler selection
process is needed

At the June 19 Sunnyvale City Council meeting (which lasted until 1 a.m.), the council "voted" for new members for boards and commissions. Changing that voting system would save time and force council members to make real choices. For example, there were two openings on the planning commission. The city clerk read each candidate's name. Council members voted "yes" or "abstain" for each candidate. (They must think that "abstain" sounds better than "no" even though it has the same effect.) The clerk then read how each council member voted on each candidate, and the person with the most "yes" votes won the first commission seat. The process was repeated to select a second commissioner. After failing to break a tie in two more votes, a name was selected from a hat. This process was repeated for eight other boards and commissions.

This convoluted process took 45 minutes, and it enables council members to save face by voting for more candidates than there are vacancies. It's a game of "chicken," hoping someone else will vote no (I mean abstain). Sunnyvale should adopt the simple system used by San Jose--a single vote for each board or commission allowing a council member to vote only for as many candidates as there are vacancies, not for four or five people when there are only two positions available. That system would have meant nine quick votes, perhaps a few tie-breakers, and honest choices and votes by council members.

Yolanda Risch

Sunnyvale