New Martinez City Councilman Says 'District' Switch Helped

MARTINEZ, CA – A man who was elected to the Martinez City Council Tuesday night said the city's switch to district-based elections helped him win.

"I think it makes a big difference," then-candidate John Stevens said in an interview before the election. "People like to know who they're electing."

This wasn't his first bid for a seat on the city council. Stevens also ran for office two years ago on an at-large basis. This time he narrowly defeated Debbie McKillop by just 25 votes, 1,154 to 1,129, doing slightly better among vote-by-mail voters where he eked out a small but decisive lead
of 61 votes.

That may be significant in light of the way that district-based campaigning reduced the cost associated with mailing campaign ads to a much smaller number of potential constituents. Had he been running at-large, he would've had to send out mailers to voters all over town -- but district
based campaigning allowed Stevens to focus on the much smaller number of voters within his district.

"You cut back on your postage costs, a little bit on printing costs, but of course when you go into lower numbers the economy of scale goes away," Stevens said. "The biggest savings comes from postage."

Targeting a smaller number of voters who are grouped into a smaller geographical area also made it easier to meet with them one-on-one by canvassing neighborhoods within his district, rather than all over town.

Going forward, there are also questions about how representing specific, geographically grouped constituents within the city's voter base will affect policy decisions among councilmembers.

"In this city you have different communities of interest, and some have different interests than others," Stevens said.

In one neighborhood residents might be particularly concerned about car theft, Stevens said, while residents of another neighborhood might be more concerned about calming traffic along a major thoroughfare.

Stevens did acknowledge that running for City Council in the Fourth District of Martinez in 2018 was more difficult than his at-large campaign in 2016 due to one particular factor: terrain.

"It's the hilliest part," Stevens said. "You lose more weight."

Debbie McKillop, Stevens' opponent, could not be reached for comment.

• RELATED: Concord, Martinez Hold First District City Council Elections

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--Bay City News/Photo courtesy of John Stevens for Martinez City Council 2018 web site