SF Chron: City of Hercules Election Recalls Mayor and Councilmember

Final returns favor recall of Hercules mayor

Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Chronicle June 7, 2011 04:00 AM

 

This article appeared on page C - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HERCULES -- Hercules voters recalled Mayor Joanne Ward and City Councilman Donald Kuehne in a special election Tuesday. Returns showed more than 80 percent of voters in the small East Bay town favored the recall effort.

Write-in candidate Dan Romero, who won with 46 percent of the vote, said the recall was a response to perceived cronyism at City Hall and wasteful spending by previous administrations.

"It shows the voters understood the problems and wanted to fix them," Romero said late Tuesday. "It shows the voters want a new City Council, and they'll get one."

Contra Costa County voters were also deciding four measures.

With all 65 precincts reporting late Tuesday, two measures related to proposed sales tax increases in Richmond ended with different results.

Measure D, which would have permanently raised Richmond's sales tax by 0.5 percent to 10.25 percent, generating an estimated $5.9 million annually, lost with 56 percent voting against it.

The measure was placed on the ballot by the City Council and needs a simple majority vote to become law.
Measure C, also in Richmond, is an advisory measure that recommends that if the city's sales tax increases, the money be used to fund services slashed because of state budget cuts. It won, also with 56 percent of the vote.

The measure is not legally binding, but it would tell the City Council whether voters prefer that half of the revenue be used to fund services for low-income Richmond residents and half for school programs the city has recently lost.

Measure E won with strong support - 90 percent approval - to give the Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District a $3.3 million appropriations limit.

Measure F, which won with 81 percent approval, would increase the appropriations limit to $1.65 million annually for the county's Service Area R-7A.