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SACRAMENTO – A key Senate committee gave unanimous approval Wednesday to SB 813, a bill by Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) to clarify state elections code.
Specifically, the bill would clarify that a provision in the state elections code pertaining to the death of a candidate prior to a vote of the people applies only to primaries and not runoff elections.
A statement from Wiggins' office said the bill is meant to prevent a repeat of the 2006 Mendocino County District Attorney's Race. In that instance, incumbent Norm Vroman died 47 days prior to the November runoff, a situation which led to a long and controversial election.
Existing law provides that when a candidate dies after the 68th day before the election, the votes cast for the deceased candidate are to be counted in determining the results of the election for that office.
If the deceased candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for the office, he or she shall be considered elected and the office to which he or she was elected shall be vacant at the beginning of the term for which he or she was elected. The vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as if the candidate had died subsequent to taking office for that term (Elections Code Section 15402).
However, there's another twist to election law. If an incumbent runs for a nonpartisan state or local office against only one other candidate, and either of the two candidates dies after the 68th day before the election, the law states that another election can't be held. If it is, the ballots will be declared void.
In those circumstances, a special election is required when the death of either candidate occurs. This provision is located in an area of the Elections Code (Section 8026) that pertains only to primary elections and was never intended to apply to runoff elections. The Wiggins bill merely seeks to clarify that intent.
Section 8026: History
Elections Code Section 8026 was enacted in 1988 in response to the 1986 election for San Mateo County Sheriff. The popular incumbent, Brendon Maguire, drew only one opponent, who was considered by some observers to be unqualified for the office.
After the close of the nomination period but prior to the primary election, Maguire died. Fearing that an unqualified person might be elected sheriff, then-Assemblyman Lou Papan authored successful urgency legislation (AB 2739 of 1986) to cancel the election and require a new one.
However, AB 2739 was overturned by the State Supreme Court and the election between the deceased sheriff and the challenger proceeded. Sheriff Maguire won the election with nearly 80 percent of the vote. The office was eventually declared vacant and a special election was held to fill it.
In order to prevent the possibility that such a situation could result in an unqualified candidate winning a future nonpartisan election, the Legislature enacted Section 8026, which cancels a primary election if the incumbent has only one challenger and one of them dies prior to the primary.
That legislation, AB 2582 of 1988, was not intended to address runoffs, the reasoning being that if a challenger is able to force a runoff against an incumbent, that challenger must be deemed qualified for the office in the eyes of the electorate.
A case in point: The recent Mendocino election
The 2006 election for Mendocino County District Attorney featured three candidates running in the June primary: incumbent Norm Vroman, attorney and former deputy D.A. Meredith Linott and Myron Sawicki.
Vroman received 36.08 percent of the vote, Sawicki received 21.77 percent and Linott received the most votes at 42.01 percent. Since no candidate received a clear majority of the votes (50 percent plus one), a runoff was scheduled between Vroman and Linott.
Vroman died of a heart attack just 47 days prior to the runoff. Given that it was a runoff election the county invoked a provision of the election code (Section 15402) requiring that the ballots be counted. The county was subsequently sued, however, over whether the provision rendering the election null and void (Section 8026) should have been invoked instead.
The Appellate Court ruled against the county and ordered a special election be held that negated the primary, setting a new precedent given the intent and history of Section 8026.
Fixing the Problem: SB 813
“In light of the turmoil resulting from the 2006 Mendocino County D.A. race and the subsequent lawsuit and court ruling, I introduced SB 813 to clarify that Section 8026 of the Elections Code does indeed apply only to primary elections,” Wiggins said.
“Furthermore, my bill would clarify that if a candidate dies within 68 days of a runoff election, Section 15402 applies to govern the results of that election,” she added. “The Legislature never intended Section 8026 to apply to runoff elections and doing so results in unnecessary costs, delays, and added confusion for voters.”
For more about Wiggins' bills or to contact her office, visit http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST – The Mendocino National Forest's final snow survey of the season showed still more low readings during what forest officials say has been one of the driest years on record.
Forest staffers Jordan Saylor and Conroy Colman conducted the recent snow measurements at Anthony Peak, at an elevation of 6,200 feet, according to a report from Phebe Brown, the forest's spokesperson.
Forest Hydrologist Bob Faust says Anthony Peak is located in the middle of the forest, between the Sacramento and Eel River watersheds.
The measurements conducted by Saylor and Colman found snow depth and water content to be 60 percent below average for this time of year, Brown reported.
One of the samples at the snow course was bare dirt, although the other nine sites were covered, Brown said.
The average snow depth was 23 inches, or 43 percent of average, said Brown. The water content was 9.4 inches – which amounts to 41 percent of average.
A snow survey of the area conducted March 30 found the snowpack at 26 inches (40 percent of average) and 12 inches of water (43 percent of average).
“This is the lowest water content in 15 years,” said Faust.
Other recent low snow years were 1981, 1986 and 1990, he said.
The snowpack statewide has been down significantly this year.
The Department of Water Resources reported Tuesday that the state snowpack was at an average of 25 percent of normal. The more severe weather conditions can be attributed to climate change and global warming, Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said last week.
Brown reported that the National Forest has been measuring winter snow depths and moisture
content since 1944 and the averages are calculated based on all those years. Precipitation from Anthony Peak drains down the Grindstone watershed, into Stony Creek and the Black Butte Reservoir, ending up in the Sacramento River, she added.
With the irrigation season on and with low inflow, reservoir storage dropped dramatically, Faust said.
“Anyone driving by Lake Mendocino on Highway 20 can see a lot of shoreline,” said Faust. “This lake is 82 percent of average storage."
Faust compared that to other Northern California reservoirs, including Shasta Lake, which is at 99-percent storage; Lake Oroville, 105 percent; and Black Butte Lake, 68 percent.
Besides California, the states of Arizona, Nevada and Utah are also dry, Faust said.
Good snowpack areas, he added, can be found in Colorado, Washington, Idaho and Montana.
For the most part, Lake County is not dependent on snowpack, according to Water Resources Division officials, but rather on precipitation and creek flow into the lake.
Local creeks remain at extremely low levels according to Department of Water Resources stream gages.
On Tuesday, Kelsey Creek was at 9.9 cubic feet per second (cfs), with the creek's median level at 25; the north fork of Cache Creek measured 20 cfs, with a median of 35; Cache Creek at Lower Lake was at 142 cfs, with a median of 308; and Putah Creek was at 19 cfs, with a median of 74.
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CLEAR LAKE – The Lake County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday afternoon that they had recovered the body of a Vacaville man who went missing in the lake Saturday evening.
A report from LCSO Lt. Cecil Brown said that 44-year-old John Leon Stockton, was found at noon.
Search and Rescue members and the North Shore Dive Team had been searching for Stockton since Saturday evening, after it was reported that he fell from the back of his boat and into the water, and didn't resurface.
They were joined in the efforts by Tom Tessier of Santa Rosa-based Aqua-Tec Inc., a company that operates sophisticated sonar equipment, Brown reported.
With Tessier's help, dive team members found Stockton's body underwater, Brown said, and later positively identified him.
Brown said Stockton's family was notified of his recovery Tuesday afternoon.
LCSO has initiated a coroner's investigation into the cause of Stockton's death, Brown said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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CLEAR LAKE – On Monday sheriff's deputies and Search and Rescue teams continued to look for a missing Vacaville man who reportedly fell into the lake and disappeared Saturday evening.
John Stockton fell from the back of his boat near Buckingham Point and didn't resurface, according to a report from Lake County Sheriff's Office Lt. Gary Basor.
Rescue efforts launched Saturday evening, Basor reported Sunday.
Basor, who is supervising the rescue operations, was back on the water Monday to continue the search, according to Lt. Cecil Brown.
However, no further information was forthcoming from the sheriff's office by the end of the day Monday about the status of the search.
A co-worker of Stockton's longtime girlfriend at First Priority Financial in Fairfield said Stockton, the father of two daughters, was accompanied by his girlfriend on this recent trip to Clear Lake.
The sheriff's office has been assisted in the search by REACH, and dive teams and search dogs from agencies in Alameda, Sonoma and Sacramento County, and the California Rescue Dog Association.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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