San Leandro's council appointment debate is terribly deadlocked

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San Leandro District 1 council applicant Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton being interviewed Tuesday night with the former District 1 councilmember Celina Reynes in the background.

CITY NEWS

SAN LEANDRO

—SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE—San Leandro councilmembers couldn’t agree on an appointee to the vacant District 1 council seat on Tuesday night. They couldn’t even agree to end meeting shortly after 11 p.m.

—Two rounds of voting failed to reach a consensus of at least four councilmembers to select a short-term replacement for Celina Reynes, who resigned from the seat on Dec. 31.

—They will try again at a special meeting on Feb. 27, two days before the 60-day deadline to select and appointee or put the matter before voters in a special election at an estimated cost of $1 million.

—None of the five candidates interviewed gained more than two votes in the first round.

—Sulema Hernandez, a political novice who isn’t yet a registered voter in Alameda County, later gained three votes in the second round.

—Councilmembers interviewed Ken Pon, David Anderson, Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton, Pcyeta Stroud, and Hernandez on Tuesday night. Jessie Rubin, a sixth applicant scheduled to be interviewed withdrew from consideration due to work-related concerns.

—As a whole, each provided lackluster performances, in addition to an elementary understanding of city finances.

—Pon, an affable member of the San Leandro Planning Commission, told the council, “My greatest concern is that I got to pee all the time,” Pon deadpanned about the need for more public restrooms.

—After the first round, San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez III withdrew Pon from consideration and nominated Stroud.

—Councilmembers, however, continued to double-down on each of their preferred applicants. A few expressed willingness to allow voters to make the decision in a costly special election, if a selection is not made on Feb. 27.

—“I would really like it not to go to a special election,” San Leandro Councilmember Xouhoa Bowen said. “I would love to be able to use that money for something else.”

—Desperate to break the logjam, Gonzalez asked if councilmembers might be interested in using ranked choice voting to gain a consensus candidate. Councilmembers Victor Aguilar, Jr., Pete Ballew, and Fred Simon, said no.

—A consensus for ending Tuesday night’s five-hour special meeting was also elusive. A motion to adjourn at 10:40 p.m. was deadlocked, 3-3. Twenty minutes, however, remained before a predetermined 11 p.m. adjournment.

—A second motion to adjourn was deadlocked, as was a motion to extend the meeting to 11:30 p.m. “By rule, we are adjourned,” Gonzalez declared.

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