In 1996, Morgan Hill voters changed position from yearly
appointment based on seniority to two-year elected office
Morgan Hill – The mayor’s job isn’t just about banging the gavel at meetings.
According to Dennis Kennedy, the man who’s ruled the bully pulpit since voters 10 years ago changed the rules and made the position “directly elected,” the office has gained strength as a separate ticket, allowing the leader of city council meetings also to be the leader of citywide initiatives that take time to implement – such as building the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, Kennedy said, a 10-year-plus project he helped spearhead.
“I think the mayor can lead an agenda for positive effect, create initiatives for projects and ideas. If you only serve as mayor for one year, you just getting into it, you really don’t have time,” said Kennedy, who’s getting ready to leave office on his own accord in December after five consecutive two-year terms.
Before his streak began, the mayor’s job was somewhat different. The job rotated yearly on the council based on seniority. It was a shared experience. Council members could each call it their own – if they stuck around long enough and were liked by their colleagues.
But then Morgan Hill voters passed Measure D in 1996.
And it was the unseemly behavior of a former councilman that led to the change, Kennedy said.
After rotating the position for some 65 years or more –the town’s board of trustees used to appoint a “president” before February 1930. A majority of the five-person council decided in 1995 it didn’t want to appoint councilman Bev Freeman to the post. Freeman had been censured for unseemly behavior – including making a racial slur against a fellow council member.
“We decided because of past behavioral issues, not to appoint him as mayor even though he was the council member who had served the longest. He became very upset about that, and he was the one who actually launched the campaign” for directly elected mayors, said Kennedy, who was on the council then.
When Freeman brought the proposal to the council, Kennedy said there was a consensus to support it. It was then put to voters – 74 percent of whom approved it.
At the same time, citizens at the polls opted for two-year terms, rejecting four-year terms by a 13 percent margin.
“Even two years (as opposed to one) is a short period of time. Fortunately I ran unopposed many times and was able to work on spearheading some projects and get them done,” Kennedy said.
Out of his five elections, Kennedy only faced opponents twice. In 2004 he was challenged by City Councilman Greg Sellers.
Most cities in Santa Clara County still have rotated mayors. Only San Jose – the 10th biggest city in the nation – Gilroy, Santa Clara, Milpitas and Morgan Hill have directly elected mayors. But according to San Jose State University political scientist Terry Christensen, separating the mayor’s position has become a trend in city-manager style governments.
“Originally, city-manager style governments didn’t have the position of mayor. Now, the mayor’s office is gradually gaining strength as more cities make it a separately elected position,” Christensen said.
In Alameda County, Newark voters have been directly electing mayors since 1972. The city has the most senior mayor in California, David W. Smith, who’s won every election since 1978.
But that doesn’t mean the mayor’s office is “all-powerful.” It’s still just one vote on the council, Christensen noted. “The mayor has more power because he’s called the ‘mayor’ and people think he has more power.”
Currently, the mayor’s stipend in Morgan Hill is $800 per month. Council members receive $300.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@*************es.com.
