At its February 2 meeting, the Pinole City Council agreed to authorize a special election to allow residents to decide if it would like to establish a directly elected mayor.
The election will occur on June 2 and the cost could range from $37,236 to $55,854. If approved, in November, Pinole residents would then vote directly for the mayor.
The move comes after the December 2, 2025 meeting where the council voted to direct staff to prepare the necessary materials to submit to the voters the question of whether the office of elected mayor shall be established pursuant to Elections Code Section 34900 in the City of Pinole.
Currently, the City of Pinole’s City Council is comprised of five (5) members elected at large to four-year terms. The position of Mayor is rotated amongst the City Council on a yearly basis. The Council has a long-standing tradition of prioritizing the council member who received the highest number of votes in the prior election to serve in the role of Mayor.
In June, voters will decide:
- “Shall the electors elect a mayor and four city council members?”
- “Shall the term of office of mayor be two years?”
- “Shall the term of office of mayor be four years?”
The words “Yes” and “No” and “two years” and “four years” shall be printed on the ballots so that the voters may express their choice. The term of office of mayor shall be that preferred by a majority of those voting on the proposition.
Mayor Pro Tem Devin T. Murphy acknowledged during the meeting that he has seen a lot of people blame him for the agenda item.
“I want to acknowledge that this is not about me. This is about the residents of Pinole. My job as a policy maker is to ensure that I am bringing new ideas to support residents,” said Murphy noting his ideas he has brought forward in the past. “This is one of those areas that I have brought around governance because I do truly believe that we have to do something about our current system because it’s not working.”
He continued, saying the item does not change the city governance from a General Law City to a Charter City—nor was he proposing that. It also doesn’t change the city from a council member-city manager government to another form of government.
“What this does is set a political mandate for the residents to decide who they want their mayor to be,” said Murphy.
Councilmember Norma Martinez-Rubin highlighted she did not support the resolution calling for a special election.
“An elected mayor in a small diverse city like Pinole is unnecessary,” said Martinez-Rubin. “Developing meaningful policy the role of a full council is doable when council members have equal authority. We currently have that with rotating mayors. Democratic ideology centers on government by the people where power is exercised through free, fair and regular elections. In Pinole, free speech to voters having a choice as to who will be elected to city council and who becomes its mayor. We have had free elections for council members in Pinole every two years. These have resulted in a city council where often a majority rather than rather than unanimous agreement takes ideas to reality of what the city ought to address, what’s given priority, and who ends up on city commissions and committees. Regardless of whether the ways to address issues are sensible, practical, or economically feasible.”
She continued saying the majority of California’s 482 cities employ a city manager where the mayor is often chosen by the council or has limited direct independent authority. The council manager form of government separates political policy elected council from administrative operations the appointed professional manager.
“Now, some council members support having an elected mayor to illustrate democracy. Does Pinole need an elected mayor who will require staff and a salary higher than other council members? How an elected mayor in Pinole would make this city better is questionable,” said Martinez-Rubin. “In my opinion, it would be a precursor to proposing a charter where a strong mayor may be had, tilting further the authority of said mayor and placing executive power on one individual, the elected mayor. That is a form of government that is not supported nor exists in most cities in California.”
Councilmember Cameron Sasai acknowledged they all will not see full agreement on the item, but hoped they would have full understanding about the measure. He also took issue with the statement “if its not broke don’t fix it”.
“I personally think that’s a that’s a really terrible way to look at policy and law,” said Sasai. “As someone who’s a public policy professional, there’s always room to refine policy. I think that statement, that concept, it assumes a few things. I think it assumes that the system is working for everybody. And I think it assumes that the harm is obvious and immediate. I think we have to go beyond if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it into let’s really appeal and be investigative about our policies and how we can refine them to make sure it works for everybody.”
He also asked a rhetorical question on if Pinole simply wants a mayor who shows up to the two meetings or someone who goes out and engages with the community—such as shows up to all the events.
Councilmember Maureen Toms said tonight they had 12 speakers with only 1 person in support while they received a PDF with 45 pages of public comments, only 1 letter was in support.
Toms said she opposed the resolution because the existing rotation practice works well as the council sets the priorities, not a mayor. She added in Pinole, the mayor always has 2-years’ experience on the council will going to an elected mayor, someone without any experience could be elected—while adding if multiple run, someone could be elected with just 34% of a vote or less.
She also pointed out, if a councilmember ran mid-term, and won the mayor role, it would create a vacancy thus triggering a special election or appointment process.
Mayor Anthony Tave said the community will decide if they wanted an elected mayor or continue with a rotation – noting each year under a rotation it changes and priorities change. He said ultimately this was about empowering the voters.
“I think the consistent leadership. I think us having a mayor move forward, mayor slow down, mayor move forward, mayor slow down keeps this government reactive to state federal legislation,” explained Tave. “I think that having consistent leadership sets a tone for the citizens. That’s my why and why I’m in support. But again, we have to have this discussion as to whether the term and compensation and actual what does a to council member size point what does a mayor do? Is it the same role? Does it deserve extra compensation? Those are conversations we have to we have to talk about.”
The council voted 3-2 with Martinez-Rubin and Toms dissenting.
According to the staff Report:
Powers of Elected Mayor
An elected mayor is a member of the City Council and has all the powers and duties of a member of the City Council. For the most part, an elected mayor has the same powers as an appointed mayor. State law designates some additional powers of elected mayors in general law cities. Elected mayors typically receive a higher salary than members of the city council.
An appointed or “selected” mayor has powers and duties that include presiding at City Council meetings, administering oaths and affirmations and certifying affidavits and/or acknowledging documents which are executed by the City and required to be acknowledged, and directing a sufficient number of peace officers to attend public meetings at which in his or her opinion a breach of peace could occur.
The only additional power a general law elected mayor is afforded is the power to make appointments to boards, commissions, and committees, subject to the approval of the City Council. Furthermore, an elected mayor may collect a salary in addition to the salary established for council members if approved by the electorate or by ordinance adopted by the City Council.
An elected mayor differs from a “strong mayor”, which is established by a city charter and holds similar executive powers to a City Manager. Additionally, strong mayors typically hold veto power over ordinances and exercise control over budgets and appointments.
Neighboring Elected Mayors
The charter of the City of Richmond, California provides for an elected mayor, whose duties include making appointments and removals from all city boards and commissions subject to council approval, preparing an annual budget for submission to the council, and publishing an annual report regarding the affairs of the city.
Additionally, the City of San Ramon has an elected mayor, who is compensated more than the rest of the council and afforded the same benefits as city employees.
The cities of Brentwood, Union City, Newark, and San Leandro also have elected mayors.
-
- Richmond: $6975 per month (approx. $4,000 more than members of the council)
- San Ramon: $100 more per month than members of the council
- Brentwood $500 more per month than the members of the council
- Union City $2,937 per month (approx. $800 more than members of the council)
- Newark $3,179 (approx. $1700 more than members of the council)
- San Leandro Base salary is twice the amount paid to council members
Staff Report – click here
Watch meeting – click here
Editors Note — the City of Brentwood has confirmed the information in the Pinole staff report is incorrect. The clause that showed the mayor made $500 more than the council expired in 2020. The mayor of Brentwood and city council make the same rate.
