Page One

Measure B1 Falls Short
as Vote Count Ends.
Controversial Berkeley Measures Defeated

By Rob Wrenn
Friday November 16, 2012 - 09:58:00 AM

Alameda County Measure B1. which would have increased the sales tax in the county by .5%, has narrowly missed the required two-thirds with 66.53% at the end of Thursday’s count of provisional ballots. Two hotly contested Berkeley measures, S and T, were defeated; both were behind in the Election Day count and lost further ground as the remaining absentee and provisional votes were counted. 

Had one voter per precinct voted yes instead of no, Measure B1 would have passed. And if turnout in Berkeley had equaled the record 2008 level it would likely have passed. 

Final results have not yet been certified. Uncertified final results are now posted on the county Registrar of Voters Web site

The final certified results are likely to be only slightly different from what is reported here. Final results, with the official statement of vote, which gives a breakdown of the vote by precinct, should be available by December 4th, four weeks after the election, at the latest. The Registrar has reportedly said that he wants all the work done by November 21, well ahead of that deadline. 

B1 would have provided an estimated $7.7 billion over thirty years for transit, local streets and roads, highway efficiency, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and sustainable land use and transportation linkages.  

About 48% of the funds generated would have gone for transit, including AC Transit operations, maintenance and improvements to service; specialized transit for seniors and people with disabilities; BART system modernization and expansion and regional rail enhancements. Its defeat is a setback for those hoping for reduced traffic congestion and more encouragement of alternative transportation to reduce generation of the greenhouse gases.  

Measure B1 (countywide) 

Yes: 350,899 (66.53%) 

No: 176,504 (33.47%) 

 

Turnout in Berkeley 

While the final numbers have not yet been certified, it’s clear that turnout in Berkeley this year fell short of the record turnout of the 2008 presidential election and was closer to 2004’s turnout. 

For the first time in a presidential election, more vote by mail ballots in Berkeley were cast than votes at the polls. More than 21,000 ballots were counted after Election Day. Many vote by mail ballots were brought to polling places on election day rather than being put in the mail. 

The ballots counted after election day did not change the results of any of Berkeley’s races. 

Here are the results beginning with some of the more controversial ballot measures. 

Measure T –West Berkeley zoning 

Measure T was briefly ahead, by 5 votes, at the end of the third day of post-election counting, raising the hopes of Measure T backers. But it finished over 500 votes behind with a lower percentage of the vote than on election day. 

Yes: 24,779 (49.49%) 

No: 25,291 (50.51%) 

Measure S: Anti-Sitting Measure 

While the campaign against Measure S was outspent 5 to 1, the measure nonetheless lost by over 2400 votes. Measure S drew more attention that any other local race. More votes were cast on S than were cast for a mayoral candidate. 

Yes: 25,523 (47.70%) 

No:27,981 (52.30%) 

Tax Measures 

There were three new tax or bond measures on the ballot. Measure M, facing no organized opposition, passed. Measures N & O, despite a vigorous and visible campaign in favor, fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Measure P, requiring only a majority vote, authorizes spending of revenues from already existing taxes, and Measure Q made some changes to the existing Utility Users tax. 

Measure M Streets and Watershed bond 

Yes: 37,988 (73.29%) 

No: 13,847 (26.71%) 

Measure N, Pools bond measure. 

Yes: 31,671 (62.37%) 

No: 19,112 (37.63%) 

Measure O, Pools parcel tax 

Yes: 30,191 (60.00%) 

No: 20,129 (40.00%) 

Measure P, Existing taxes 

Yes: 45,318 (89.08%) 

No: 5,555 (10.92%) 

Measure Q, technical change Utility tax 

Yes: 42,382 (85.36%) 

No: 7,266 (14.64%) 

Other Measures 

Measure R, Council District Redistricting 

Yes: 31,852 (65.92%) 

No: 16,464 (34.08%) 

Measure U, Sunshine Ordinance 

Yes: 10,509 (23.27%) 

No: 34,651 (76.73%) 

Measure V, FACTS Ordinance 

Yes: 17,292 (38.60%) 

No: 27,511 (61.40%) 

Berkeley Mayor 

Mayor Tom Bates won reelection easily, carrying every precinct in the city according to the election results map on the County Registrar of Voters Web site. 

Tom Bates: 28,635 (54.09%) 

Kriss Worthington: 11,507 (21.74%) 

Jacquelyn McCormick: 6,011 (11.35%) 

Bernt Wahl: 2,322 (4.39%) 

Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi: 2,248 (4.25%) 

Zachary Runningwolf: 2,016 (3.81%) 

City Council 

All incumbents won re-election, outspending their opponents in each of the three contested races. 

City Council District 2 

Darryl Moore: 3393 (58.66%) 

Denisha Delane: 1629 (28.17%) 

Adolfo Cabral: 731 (12.64%) 

City Council District 3 

Max Anderson: 3119 (60.35%) 

Dmitri Belser 2021 (39.11%) 

City Council District 5 

Laurie Capitelli 4324 (54.25%) 

Sophie Hahn 3619 (45.40%) 

City Council District 6 

Susan Wengraf 5569 (93.71%) 

Phoebe Sorgen 291 (4.90%) 

(write-in candidate) 

 

Berkeley School Board 

Judy Appel received the highest number of votes of any Berkeley candidate this year, topping Mayor Bates, an achievement for someone who was not an incumbent. 

She was elected along with incumbent Beatriz Leyva-Cutler. 

Judy Appel: 30,012 (42.09%) 

Beatriz Leyva-Cutler 22,267 (31.23%) 

Tracy Hollander 15,528 (21.78%) 

Norma Harrison 3,332 (4.67%) 

Berkeley Rent Board 

Three members of the Progressive Affordable Housing Slate and one member of the landlord-financed TUFF slate were elected. Nicole Drake, the one incumbent on the TUFF slate, finished sixth. Igor Tregub, an incumbent on the progressive slate, also lost. 

Judy Shelton: 19,738 (15.31%) 

Judy Hunt 17,930 (13.91%) 

Asa Dodsworth 17,551 (13.62%) 

Alejandro Soto-Vigil 16,869 (13.09%) 

Igor Tregub 16,659 (12.93%) 

Nicole Drake 15,327 (11.89%) 

Kiran Shenoy 13,204 (10.24%) 

Jay James 11,252 (8.73%) 

Note: the results reported above for all races do not include write-in votes, except for the case of Phoebe Sorgen. For that reason, votes for candidates to not add up to 100%.