Voters in Buellton will decide Nov. 4 whether their mayor should be directly elected in the future or continue to be rotated among the five members of the City Council.
Measure R also asks the city’s voters whether they want the directly elected mayoral term to be for two years or four.
If approved, the changes would take effect with the council’s election in November 2016.
The City Council is divided on whether Buellton should have a directly elected mayor, with a 3-2 vote earlier this year to place the measure on the ballot.
Mayor John Connolly and Vice Mayor Leo Elovitz opposed the measure while Council members Ed Andrisek, Judith Dale and Holly Sierra favored it.
Currently, the council rotates the gavel-wielding job and role of vice mayor among the five members with one-year stints beginning at the reorganizational meeting in early December.
Those who support the measure say the directly elected mayor provides some continuity.
The measure also lets voters have a say in how the city is run, supporters say.
Those who oppose it say the current rotation system allows each council member to gain experience and new insight into the city operations.
If voters approve the measure, Buellton would join other Santa Barbara County cities in directly electing their mayors, including Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Solvang and Guadalupe.
Carpinteria and Goleta rotate the job among council members, however.
In addition to the mayoral measure on the ballot, Buellton’s voters are choosing three council members to serve four-year terms.
The three incumbents, Andrisek, Connolly and Dale, are running for re-election and are challenged by Ron Anderson, a Realtor and president of the Buellton Chamber of Commerce; Dan Baumann, an RV resort manager; Joe Padilla, a local restaurateur/winemaker; Mark Preston, a retired program manager; and Tom Widroe, a local business consultant.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
