Mayor uses veto power on council decision

Last week the San Bernardino City Council voted 4-2 in favor of placing a measure on the June ballot that would eliminate the position of Mayor.  This move comes after the council has taken several other actions aimed at making the mayor position unattractive and impotent in previous meetings.  The most recent move was taken after previously voting to cut the mayor’s salary by more than fifty percent. If the ballot measure were to succeed it is the council that would decide who is mayor, not the voters.

In a memo on Monday Mayor Valdivia vetoed the decision of the council which he has the right to do under the city charter if a vote fails to reach five council member in favor or more.  Councilmembers Shorett, Figueroa, Sanchez, and Calvin voted in favor to place the measure on the ballot to remove the position of mayor, members Alexander and Ibarra opposed and Reynoso abstained from voting. For now at least, the measure is dead and will not appear on the ballot in June.

The council now has until March 4^th to try to put the ballot measure, which is estimated to cost in excess of $50,000 to manage, back on but if they could not muster more votes the outcome would likely be the same with Valdivia issuing another veto.

Gabriel Jaramillo, one of a handful of announced candidates for Mayor in San Bernardino posted to Facebook the following in reaction, “This is what happens when councilmembers want full power and the plans of trying to take the votes for mayor from City residents. Thank you Mayor John Valdivia.”

Valdivia made clear in a conversation with this news outlet that the people of San Bernardino had previous opportunities to eliminate the position of mayor and chose not to do so. At the previous meeting to discuss the measure, council members Alexander and Ibarra both noted that the voters in San Bernardino had an opportunity previously to rid the city of the elected mayor position on the previous charter reform process just a few years ago and decided not to do so.