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No City Council challenges a bad sign
| Saturday, Aug 16 2008 6:25 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Aug 18 2008 11:02 AM
Critics of the so-called Abernathy machine are having great fun with Beau Woodward's disqualification from the Bakersfield City Council race. The first-time campaigner needed a mere 20 valid signatures on his petition to run for office and he could only come up with 19. If he hadn't waited until 10 minutes before the filing deadline to submit his paperwork, he surely could've found one more willing, qualified voter on short notice.
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Woodward's failure to clear such a low bar doesn't speak well for his attention to detail, but then he was apparently relying on the guidance of seasoned political consultant Mark Abernathy, who has helped direct many successful campaigns, from the city council to Congress to the gubernatorial recall.
Woodward's non-start (barring a legal challenge or write-in campaign) leaves all three of the incumbents on the November city-council ballot with an unopposed path to reelection. Ward 2's Sue Benham, Ward 6's Jacquie Sullivan and Ward 5's Harold Hanson (who benefits directly from Woodward's signature shortfall) will be returned to office without the election-year scrutiny that ballot challenges routinely encourage. And that is the real misfortune in Woodward's missed-it-by-that-much candidacy.
At a time when Bakersfield has undergone historic growth and continues to confront difficult challenges and potentially profound changes, city council positions — all public offices, really — need the best possible stewards.
This is not a commentary on the performance of Benham, Sullivan or Hanson, who seem to have given their conscientious best, even if they have occasionally generated controversy.
Benham, who has been diligent and independent, has had to deal with the concerns of the Westpark neighborhood she serves over proposed freeway routes.
Sullivan's mission to see "In God We Trust" displayed in every U.S. city council chamber has garnered much support, along with some criticism over its perceived Judeo-Christian exclusivity.
And Hanson has been portrayed of late as an occasional swing vote, rather than the sure thing some might have assumed he'd be. That's probably the reason for his apparent falling out with Abernathy and at least one council colleague.
The lack of opposition for any of those three seats could simply be a statement about the public's general satisfaction with the status quo. But we doubt it.
More likely, the lack of interest is a statement about the perceived risks vs. rewards of public office. Serving on the city council in a city the size of Bakersfield is a full-time job that, if done right, demands continuous study on a multitude of issues — planning, growth, resources, aesthetics, finance, personnel and more. The best elected officials incorporate broad, long-term vision into the package as well.
City council service can certainly feed one's ambition. But for those who do not aspire to higher office, the reward is the satisfaction one gets from contributing. It's hardly the money. A 2005 Massachusetts study ranked Bakersfield's cost-adjusted council salaries second-lowest among the 47 U.S. cities it compared. And with 1.75 candidates per seat, Bakersfield was ranked second-worst in the study's list of least competitive city elections. By comparison, the city of Hayward had the 10th-highest council salaries among the cities studied and the eighth-most competitive elections with 3.25 candidates per seat.
Salary can't be the only factor — and, in fact, the Massachusetts study concluded that it isn't. Local circumstances loom even larger. In Bakersfield, perhaps it's the general tenor of local politics or the sense that one needs a big name, a vault full of money or a powerful sponsor to have a chance. Whatever the reasons, unchallenged incumbents, no matter how deserving of reelection, are an indication that Bakersfield's political landscape — and citizens' confidence in the democratic process — is not as healthy as it ought to be.