Tomorrow night, the Oakland City Council will be voting on the implementation and funding of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for the 2010 elections. EBYD has long supported IRV and is urging the Council to vote to implement IRV this year. Below is the letter that we sent this morning to the Oakland City Council.
If you’d like to make your voice heard about IRV, please call or email the Council today or tomorrow. Or, join EBYD to speak at the City Council meeting on Tuesday at 7pm in Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Here is the contact information for all Councilmembers:
Rebecca Kaplan, At-Large
RKaplan@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7008
Council President Jane Brunner, District 1
JBrunner@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7001
Patricia Kernighan, District 2
PKernighan@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7002
Nancy Nadel, District 3
NNadel@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7003
Jean Quan, District 4
JQuan@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7004
Ignacio De La Fuente, District 5
IDeLaFuente@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7005
Desley Brooks, District 6
DBrooks@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7006
Larry Reid, District 7
LReid@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7007
And here is the letter we sent to the Council:
Dear Oakland City Council,
On behalf of the East Bay Young Democrats, I urge you to vote to implement and to fully fund the public education and outreach necessary to implement Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV or ranked-choice voting) in Oakland for the 2010 election cycle.
The East Bay Young Democrats (EBYD) is the East Bay’s largest Democratic club for working people under the age of 36. Our mission is to shape the Democratic Party for the next generation and promote the interests of young adults in local, state and national politics.
In 2006 we endorsed and campaigned for Measure O in Oakland because we believe it will open up the local democratic process to more voters, save the city money, promote positive campaigning in local elections, and widen the field to more young candidates. These are also some of the reasons why the citizens of Oakland overwhelmingly passed Measure O.
While we understand that the city faces a serious budget deficit and IRV will take some up-front investment to get off the ground, it is imperative that the council allows the will of the voters to take effect this year. The city will recoup that investment soon enough by only having to run one election per year, rather than two. Furthermore, a December 16 memo by Oakland City Attorney John Russo states unequivocally that the City Charter mandates immediate implementation of IRV.
We hope that the will of the voters and the law of the City of Oakland will convince the Oakland City Council to vote unanimously to implement and to fund the implementation of IRV for 2010, and thank you in advance for your support of this important issue.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Saltzman
President, East Bay Young Democrats
