Long Beach, CA
Long Beach Fifth District Councilwomen Stacy Mungo-Flanigan was one of nine candidates to withdraw their names from consideration of the California Citizen’s Redistricting Commission.
The candidate withdraw list was released in the May 6 Agenda of the Applicant Review Panel for the 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission. The May 6 meeting was to further reduce the Third Round candidates to a final 60 names to be forwarded to the California Legislature on May 15th.
Councilwomen Mungo-Flanigan’s withdraw comes after her third round hour-and–half interview with the Applicant Review Panel on April 14, 2020. In the middle of the interview the panel asked Mungo-Flanigan about her plans to run for reelection. After the councilwomen’s answer was that she has not made up her mind, the Commission Counsel Chris Dawson is called to explain that a Citizens Redistricting Commissioner may not hold any public office including a city office. Mungo-Flanigan is then told if she is selected to serve on the commission, she would have to resign her council position. After a pause, Mungo just answers “Okay” .
The Applicant Review Panel transcript of the exchange (page 129):
MR. DAWSON: Hi, Ms. Flanigan. Chris Dawson. I’m the Panel Counsel. I just wanted to call your attention to Article 21, Section 2, subdivision (c)(6), “A Commission member shall be ineligible for a period of ten years, beginning from the date of appointment, to hold elected public office at the federal, state, county or city level in the state.”
MS. FLANIGAN: Hmm.
MR. DAWSON: So in my reading, and I encourage you to talk to your city attorney, that if you were appointed to the Commission, you would not be eligible to be a City Council Member at the same time.
MS. FLANIGAN: Okay.
Also on the withdrawal list are two other locally elected officials, Glendora Mayor/Councilman Michael Allawos and La Canada Councilman Keith Eich. They too were informed at their interviews about the California Constitutional Provision preventing them from holding an elective office and serving on the Commission. Eich’s Applicant Review Panel interview was on March 2nd, a day before he was elected to the La Canada City Council.
Long Beach Ethic Commissioner Margo Morales , also a Third Round candidate is one of only 8 Democrats to receive 3 out of 3 votes from the Applicant Review Panel and appears certain of being one of the 60 names on the list that goes to the Legislature on May 15th.
Each major party legislative leader gets 24 strikes from the list. Eight names are drawn from the remanding candidates to be on the commission. Those eight candidates then select 6 more commissioners from the remaining candidates for a total of 13 Citizens Redistricting Commissioners.
Citizens Redistricting Commission withdraw list
Mungo-Flanagan CCRC video Interview link
[…] for the CCRC and was interviewed by the Applicant Review Panel. The Councilwomen however dropped out from the CCRC selection process after she was reminded during her interview that if she was selected for the commission she would […]