Politics

SAN MATEO COUNTY (BCN) ― Voter turnout in San Mateo County was low on Tuesday, but election officials said Wednesday that the lack of voters was to be expected for such a small election.

There were no countywide measures on the ballot, but residents in most cities had measures and candidates to vote for, Elections Manager David Tom said.

Turnout was about 26 percent, Tom said, adding that the elections department was disappointed with the low percentage even though it was "consistent with these types of elections."

He said the department has seen an increase in mail-in ballots, a trend that continued with Tuesday's election.

Unofficial election results showed narrow margins among candidates in several races.

In Brisbane, where there were three available council seats, incumbent W. Clarke Conway came in first with 465 votes. The second top finisher was Planning Commissioner Cliff Lentz, who received 442 votes.

Unofficial results showed Mayor A. Sepi Richardson finishing third, garnering 402 votes, with incumbent Michael Barnes trailing by 19 votes.

Tom said Brisbane has the smallest voter population of the cities in San Mateo County, and that having such a close race is not unusual.

In Burlingame, where three council seats were up for grabs, business owner Michael Brownrigg received the highest number of votes, with 2,704. Mayor Ann Keighran was re-elected to the council with 2,670 votes, along with incumbent Cathy Baylock, who received 2,279 votes.

Incumbent Rosalie O'Mahony appears to have been voted off the council if the unofficial results stand, coming in fourth with 2,202 votes.

In Half Moon Bay, where seven candidates ran for three council seats, incumbent Naomi Patridge garnered the most votes, 1,151. The other top two vote-getters were Allan Alifano, who took in 974 votes, and business consultant Rick Kowalczyk, who received 854 votes.

In Belmont, incumbents Warren Lieberman and Coralin Feierbach were re-elected and former councilman Dave Warden claimed the third seat.

Foster City incumbent Pam Frisella and real estate attorney Charlie Bronitsky were elected to that City Council.

In Millbrae, incumbent Gina Papan and former councilwoman Nadia Holober appear to have won the two seats on that city council.

Redwood City incumbent Jeff Ira was re-elected to the council, and the other two seats went to newcomers Jeff Gee, an architect, and John Seybert, a director of operations.

In San Mateo, incumbent Brandt Grotte was re-elected to the City Council, and Alameda County Deputy District Attorney David Lim and retired police lieutenant Robert Ross claimed the other two seats.

In South San Francisco, the three incumbents who ran, Pedro Gonzalez, Karyl Matsumoto and Mark Addiego, were all re-elected to council terms.
Six measures that proposed an increase in transient occupancy taxes appear to have passed.

Measure F in San Bruno, Measure G in Brisbane, Measure H in Burlingame, Measure J in Millbrae, Measure M in San Mateo and Measure O in South San Francisco all called for an increase from 10 percent to 12 percent in the hotel transient occupancy tax.

Measure U in San Carlos, which would have increased the sales tax in the city, required a majority vote but failed, with 56 percent voting no, according to unofficial election results.

Another measure, Measure W in Foster City, would have increased the number of terms a city councilmember could serve. That measure received a 66 percent "no" vote.

Measure Y in Redwood City, which would have increased the city's business license tax, also did not pass.

Measure I in Burlingame, Measure K in Millbrae and Measure V in San Carlos all call for certain positions to be appointed in those cities and each appear to have passed. Measures I and V were for the city clerk and Measure K was to make the city treasurer appointive.

Measure L in San Mateo, which called for a quarter-cent increase in sales tax, appears to have passed with 60 percent of the vote.

In Portola Valley, three measures on the ballot, P, Q and R, all appear to have passed as well. Measure T in Atherton and Measure X in Redwood City also appear to have passed.

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