Commentary: Glendale’s municipal election system needs fixing

Cynicism, in regards to politics, is easy. If your choices should come up short, if your ideals are “rejected” at the polls, you might see the system as truly to blame for “your” loss. “In retrospect, I was never going to win,” the thinking goes, “because the system is stacked against me.” Aesop’s Fox becomes sure the grapes he can’t reach are sour after failing again and again to snatch them off the highest vine.

Running the race yourself gives you an entirely different perspective. I, with all the wisdom and experience of a 31-year-old progressive, just ran a campaign for a seat on the Glendale City Council. I love Glendale and to stay in this city I need to fight on behalf of the entire renting community. No one that shared my perspective was willing to run for office so I decided, somewhat at the last minute, to try my hand. Three months, dozens of volunteers, a broken fundraising goal, exactly 95 lawn signs and 3,100 votes later, I am no longer Aesop’s Fox.

It’s hard to feel cynical when over 3,000 voices join you in your efforts toward a better city. I got many residents’ gratitude for being the one candidate to directly address working class problems. I met a family who’d lived in the same apartment for eight years only to have their rent spike overnight from $1,250 to $2,000 — and they came outside to shake my hand before I’d even explained who I was or why I wanted to talk to them about rent stabilization. Property owners, homeowners and tenants alike formed lines at the candidate forums to talk to me. The intersectional exchange of perspectives and ideas was — and is — humbling and inspiring in equal measure. After our loss, this sudden groundswell kept repeating: “Don’t go anywhere. This city needs new voices like yours.”

So when I say the following, I do so without cynicism, with rather a bright, deep optimism informed with the knowledge that with effort the challenges that confront us all can indeed be overcome: Our municipal electoral system is broken. Glendale has elected its most imbalanced, monolithic city council in recent memory. When I say “monolithic,” I know what a lot of you are thinking and we will get to that very sensitive element in future op-eds. But beyond little racial diversity, we now have too little gender diversity, age diversity, geographic diversity, and most critically, we have no economic diversity. Our outdated electoral mechanisms stifle new voices and prevent all but only the wealthiest, most financially secure folks from any chance at a seat. Money reigns supreme in an increasingly divided city. The resultant cynicism has bred inaction and self-segregation.

But it can be fixed. We need:

• A balanced public campaign finance fund to staunch the flood of private money and give grassroots candidates a chance against incumbents and big fundraisers that would outspend them 30 to 1.
• Voluntary spending limits and mandatory contributions to the public fund for those that choose to exceed those limits.
• A restructuring of our city council. We need an elected at-large mayor and districted council members.
• A reform of our ballot with ranked choice or ‘instant runoff’ so that voters have a clearer voice.

This is all well within our power to achieve. Let’s start talking about this now.

MIKE VAN GORDER recently ran for City Council in Glendale and thinks that you should, too. He can be reached at VanGorderGlendale@gmail.com.