Letter to the Editor: At-Large Mayor in Sunnyvale Would Empower Special Interests

An at-large Sunnyvale mayor would represent me as little as the council members who voted to have Measure B. They ignored majority public input against changing from council-selected mayor to directly-elected mayor, and pleas to let voters freely choose between 7 districts and at-large mayor riding on 6 districts.

The motivations for a directly-elected mayor are the same as ever—concentration of power, special interest influence, self-interest and personal ambitions.

What is different this time is that at-large mayor is marketed with district elections. It is also timely to make use of a potential lawsuit—is this fair?

Under the guise that “responsibilities will remain the same,” at-large mayor’s power is increased, by extended term limits, and removable only by recall/election. A mayoral race would set new campaign spending records. Whom will the winner represent?

(I am in the No on Measure B campaign, speaking for myself only)

Mei-Ling Shek-Stefan, Sunnyvale resident

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *