GALT, CA (MPG) - As the city heads toward its first set of district maps, Galt City Council members opted against a system that would allow citizens to vote for an at-large mayor, instead choosing to stick with a rotating mayor selected from the council.

The decision came during a nearly hourlong discussion on the matter at the council’s Tuesday, Feb. 18 meeting. It was the fourth of five potential meetings on the city’s shift to district elections.

The city was notified in August that it would need to move to district elections or potentially face litigation under the California Voting Rights Act, which requires municipalities and other government bodies to create district elections in the hopes of avoiding potential voting imbalances caused by at-large elections. After the change, voters in the 25,000-person town will only be able to vote for candidates who live in their district, as opposed to the current system where voters can vote for any candidate up for election.

With that change came the potential for the city’s first “at-large mayor,” voted for by the entire city of Galt, in addition to the council members who will soon be picked by districts.

The at-large mayor would not have been a “strong mayor,” with extraordinary powers, as other larger cities like Los Angeles have, but would have some level of influence over city governance including helping to set the council agenda.

The only member of the board to fully advocate for an at-large mayor was Vice Mayor Paul Sandhu, who said he was in favor of the at-large mayor only because it provides an opportunity for the community to choose their mayor, versus the current system which allows the council to pick a mayor from the council on an annual basis.

“I am always about giving power to the people,” Sandhu said.

Sandhu also highlighted that neighboring cities and towns have elected mayors, like Elk Grove, Lodi, Stockton and Manteca.

Council member Mathew Pratton said he was not sold on an elected, at-large mayor and was leaning toward remaining with an appointed mayor. He voiced concerns that someone without experience could run and potentially win the seat or with poor motivations.

“I’m a little concerned with our size that if we are going to the elected mayor, it’s not that I don’t trust the public; I might not trust the person running for mayor, possibly,” Pratton said.

He added that while other nearby towns have elected mayors, it sometimes creates political issues and divisions.

“In those towns sometimes politics, that is the most controversial pieces is some of the mayors they have had,” Pratton said. “I don’t want one of those mayors here. It is hard enough to get people to run in this town as all we know. It is not easy to run for public office…I still think it is hard to get people to run for this council, and to get them to run for mayor it is going to be even harder, and I think that narrows us down to folks with possible ulterior motives and people who are concerned with power.”

Those same concerns were echoed by Council members Tim Reed and Bonnie Rodriguez.

Reed said if they go with five districts, it provides an opportunity for the council to pick a mayor who has experience from the council, versus potentially electing someone completely fresh from the public who was more concerned with the title than governance.

“If we go with just the four-and-one, we could be voting for a mayor who could be great, or could be the complete opposite of great,” Reed said. “If we go with the five and appoint a mayor, just like with the five that are up here right now, we don’t see one of the brand-new council members being the mayor. We appointed Mayor (Shawn) Farmer as the mayor because he is the more experienced…If you vote for a mayor off the street there is a possibility we can have a mayor that is not great.” 

Multiple council members questioned would happen if the council was forced to appoint a mayor if no one ran.

“I’d much rather fill and appoint the seat to one district than have to have four people sit here and appoint an elected mayor,” Rodriguez said. “That is a scarier issue for me.”

She added that she felt that an elected mayor would “cannibalize” other districts.

“If you have two people or three people run for mayor, and they all sit in one district and no one else runs for that district then you cannibalize that district,” Rodriguez said. “That is a big issue for me.”

She said in her discussions with other staffers and representatives from other cities, no one recommended a town of Galt’s size to go with an elected mayor.

“The cities around us that have elected mayors, they are not towns, they are huge cities compared to us,” Rodriguez said.

Mayor Shawn Farmer said that while he was leaning toward four districts, which would keep a semblance of the “at-large” system that the city had before, he saw pros and cons from both sides and could go either way.

“This is too big of an issue to have a split decision,” Farmer said.

Toward the end of the discussion, Sandhu said he was in favor of following the will of the board and shifted his vote to allow for a consensus.

The Galt City Council at its next meeting is slated to vote on an ordinance codifying the decision and the district maps.