City of San Leandro - Run City Council

Running for City Council

Thinking about running for a position on the San Leandro City Council? Here’s how:

Eligibility

What You Can Do Now to Prepare

How To Run For Office

Campaign Finance Reporting

Campaign Signs

To be eligible to hold office as a member of the San Leandro City Council, a person must:

Be a registered voter of the City;
Live in the district from which they seek nomination; and
Have lived in their Council district for 30 days prior to filing nomination papers.

What You Can Do Now to Prepare

If you are not sure if you are registered to vote in San Leandro, contact the Alameda County Registrar of Voters at 510-272-6973 or check online at www.acgov.org/rov/registration.htm.
Read the City Council agenda and staff reports, available on the City’s website at http://www.sanleandro.org/services/records.asp#viewdoc.
Attend City Council meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, 835 East 14^th Street, and City Council work sessions on the second Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the Helen Lawrence South Offices Conference Room, 999 East 14^th Street.
Familiarize yourself with the City Charter, Municipal Code, Administrative Code and Zoning Code, all of which are available on the City’s website.
File a Form 501 Candidate Intention Statement with the City Clerk. This form must be filed prior to soliciting or receiving any contribution, or spending any personal funds for the election.

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How To Run For Office

Nomination Period

The City of San Leandro holds its elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years. Members of Council Districts 2, 4 and 6 will be up for election in 2012. Members of Council Districts 2, 4 and 6 will be up for election in 2012. The positions of Mayor and Council Districts 1, 3 and 5 will be up for election in 2014. Check here to see what district you are in.

The nomination period opens 113 days before Election Day, and ends 88 days before Election Day. This is the period of time during which you can obtain your nomination packet, which includes the forms you need to submit in order to run for office. Please contact your City Clerk for an appointment to obtain a nomination packet.

For the November 6, 2012 election, the nomination period opens at 8:30 a.m. on July 16, 2012 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 10, 2012.

Nomination Paper

Your official nomination paper will be included in your nomination packet. To qualify as a candidate, you must obtain the signatures of at least 20, but not more than 30, registered voters in your district.

Ballot Designation

This is the word or words which appear on the ballot under your name. It designates your principal profession, vocation or occupation, subject to certain requirements of the Elections Code.

Candidate Statement

This is an up to 200-word statement that is published in the Sample Ballot and mailed to all registered voters. If you choose to have a candidate statement, you will be responsible for the cost of printing, translating and publishing the statement in the Sample Ballot.

Campaign Finance Reporting

If you plan to raise or spend more than $1,000, you should do the following:
Obtain a copy of Campaign Manual 2 from the Fair Political Practices website (http://www.fppc.ca.gov/) or from your City Clerk; read it and give a copy to your Treasurer.
File a Form 501 Candidate Intention Statement with your City Clerk, if you haven’t already.
Within 10 days of receiving $1,000 in contributions, file a Form 410, Statement of Organization with the Secretary of State.
Open a bank account for your campaign committee.
Become familiar with campaign report filing requirements and deadlines.
Attend an FPPC seminar (information available on the FPPC website or call the FPPC at 916-322-5660).

Campaign Signs

If you wish to install campaign signs, the following rules apply:

A Declaration of Intent to Install Temporary Election Campaign Signs in the City of San Leandro must be filed with the City Clerk at least 2 days prior to installing campaign/political signs.
No campaign signs are allowed on public property.
The maximum allowable size of political signs is 16 square feet.
Signs must be removed within 10 days following the election.

Other Useful Web Sites

Alameda County Registrar of Voters www.acgov.org/rov
State of California Fair Political Practices Commission http://www.fppc.ca.gov/
California Secretary of State http://www.sos.ca.gov/

If you have other election questions, please contact your City Clerk.

Marian Handa, City Clerk

Phone (510) 577-3367

Email: mhanda@sanleandro.org