Local election called off after no challengers emerge

With all three council seats uncontested, and no local measures on the ballot, November's election will proceed, but only with state and federal races.

photo credit: Courtesy, City of Rohnert Park

Elections are all about choices. Fed up with a leader, vote them out. Annoyed by a policy, overturn it with a ballot measure.

Whether contentment or apathy is prevailing can't be known, but one North Bay city is opting not to hold an election this fall after no one emerged to challenge any of three sitting city council candidates,

Rohnert Park voters will still cast ballots for president, US Senate, Congress and a dozen state offices and propositions. But the city council will remain unchanged.

That's not due to a lack of trying.

According to Rohnert Park's city clerk, Silvia Lopez Cuevas, officials there did all kinds of outreach.

Cuevas said staffers publicized the opportunity at community meetings, sent postcards to every registered voter, made a presentation at a council meeting, along with bilingual notices posted in city offices. And that wasn't the only outreach.

"We put out a lot of content on social media--Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, Linked-in. we also put information on the city's Spotlight, that goes out to the public every two weeks. Despite all the efforts, we only had one resident, from District 3, come in and pull papers and all the incumbents came in and pulled papers, but only the incumbents returned to file the papers," Lopez Cuevas said.

Addressing the council during public comment, a local resident who officials identified as Mr. Boor interpreted the lack of interest as a resounding vote of confidence.

"You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that there was an opportunity to run for office within this town. The fact that there was no opposition that came forward, I think in many ways that reflects the leadership that the entire council, but in particular the three members that are up for election, the leadership that you've all been able to bring to the community," Boor said.

With the nomination period closed and an estimated savings of ninety thousand dollars, the council, with active candidates recusing themselves, agreed to 3-0 to cancel the local election.