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From: Julie Pardini <br />To: GRP -City Council <br />Subject: August 17, 2020 Special Meeting <br />Date: Monday, August 17, 2020 4:29:25 PM <br />August 17, 2020 <br />Mayor Diane Howard <br />Vice Mayor Shelly Masur <br />Councilmembers <br />I am writing to share my opinion with you regarding the importance of voting rights and elections. <br />We don't want to be the first SF Bay Area City to start a trend to appointing candidates to what has been designated <br />as "elected office" in our city. <br />What might seem to some as "common sense" or "expediency", <br />in view of the fact that this city council seat is unopposed, and this District has only one candidate, it is still, <br />nonetheless, an "election". <br />We have protocols for elections—and specific processes which we must follow—even options for situations such as <br />this. <br />I wrote a comment on a Facebook post yesterday in which I stated the reasons for my opinion. <br />One of the reasons I stated is that I would guess that Michael Smith, himself, would not prefer to begin his term on <br />the City Council by this method. If I, personally, were a candidate, I would not want one of the first influences of <br />my office—through no fault of my own—to be <br />the disenfranchisement of the voting rights of my constituents. <br />Common sense may be "expedient"—(as expedient as authoritarian governments often are)— but it is not <br />Democracy. <br />Sincerely, <br />Julie Pardini <br />Sent from my iPhone <br />