If you want to have a say on the person who decides if your home or business is assessed at a fair value, or if you want to ensure there are places to vote in your neighborhood, then you’ll want to vote in the upcoming June 2 primary election, which includes races for county assessor, clerk-recorder, and several seats on the Richmond City Council.
June 2 primary: Key dates
— Ballots are mailed by county officials by May 4
— Drop-off locations are available beginning May 5
— Last day to register to vote is May 18
— Early in-person voting begins on May 23
— Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before June 2
A common misconception about primary elections is that they’re less important to participate in than general elections, but in these races, the candidates that get a simple majority of the votes cast will win. If that doesn’t happen, the top two vote-getters will compete in a run-off in the November general election.
Many choices on the June 2 primary ballot
The Richmond-specific ballot will include a mayoral race as well as city council races in Districts 3 and 4. (The District 2 candidate is unopposed.)
The Contra Costa County ballot will include; the assessor and clerk-recorder races; the county schools superintendent; contests for county supervisors; and races for four state Assembly seats and three congressional seats. (Richmond’s representative on the county Board of Supervisors, John Gioia, is running unopposed in District 1.)
There are also statewide contests for governor, lieutenant governor and state superintendent of instruction, among others.
Who is running for clerk-recorder and assessor?
Two offices that don’t often receive a lot of attention can have a significant effect on local voters’ daily lives. They are the Contra Costa County clerk-recorder and the Contra Costa County assessor.
“These are a big deal,” Gioia told Richmondside. “Both are important positions.” This is the first time since 1994 there won’t be an incumbent running in the county assessor’s race. Assessor Gus Kramer is retiring after serving eight terms.
Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer is retiring after serving eight terms, so it’s the first time since 1994 that voters will choose a new person to serve. (Courtesy of county)
The assessor candidates on the June ballot are:
- Kismat Kathrani, a software technology engineer who is promising to produce “fair, accurate and transparent property assessments for all residents.”
- Vince Robb, the current assistant county assessor who says he wants to “ensure the fair and accurate assessment of every residential, commercial and business property in Contra Costa County.”
- Nick Spinner, a senior systems engineer who promises “transparency, integrity, efficiency and service” in the assessor’s role.
The clerk-recorder candidates are:
- Kristin Braun Connelly, the incumbent clerk-recorder who says “my top priority continues to be conducting fair, impartial, and accessible elections and keeping your data and voting systems secure.”
- Pratima Sonavne, a business owner who says she is “committed to transparency, efficiency and public trust in county services.”
What does the clerk-recorder do?
The clerk-recorder has three primary functions:
- Oversee the filing of birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, fictitious business name statements and other official documents.
- Serve as county recorder, overseeing the documentation of property-related activities.
- Supervise elections in Contra Costa County. The clerk-recorder’s office runs polling places and designs the county ballot and voter information guides that are sent to the county’s 730,000 registered voters, among other duties.
“The clerk-recorder is the head of a department that is the touch point of many important parts of life,” said Dawn Kruger, the communications and media relations coordinator for the clerk-recorder office.
They also distribute and receive mail-in ballots, set up voting booths in every precinct and tally election results.
“We are the folks who actually run the election on the local level,” Kruger noted.
Gioia said this part of the clerk’s responsibility has become a hot issue in recent years due to national debates over the integrity of elections. “It is more contentious than it should be,” he said, “but we have had a history of good election officials here.”
“It gets the lion’s share of attention,” added Kruger. “It absolutely has become even more in the spotlight.”
What does the county assessor do?
The elected assessor oversees a department that assesses all property in Contra Costa County, produces an official assessment role every year by July 1, audits all entities doing business in the county and maintains a set of more than 12,000 maps for assessment purposes.
Gioia noted that the assessor’s decisions on property value have a direct effect on how much property tax is collected. “The assessor impacts the tax revenue received by every entity in the county,” Gioia said.
Property taxes are a major source of funding for every municipal agency. Richmond’s annual operating budget of about $250 million includes about $55 million per year in property tax revenue.
Meet the candidates running for three Richmond seats
What: Richmondside is co-hosting three candidate forums for the Richmond City Council election.
When: April 22 (mayoral); May 7 (District 3); and May 13 (District 4)
Get the details: You can find more election news in our voters guide and get the details about how to attend a forum here.
In particular, Gioia notes, is the value the assessor places on the Chevron refinery property in Richmond. The refinery provides more than $9 million per year in property tax revenue to the city.
“Assessed values directly impact the tax collected,” Gioia said. “It’s an extremely powerful position.”
Although Prop. 13 limits how much property taxes can be increased annually, Gioia points out that the assessor has some discretion when a property is sold or when developments are built on vacant land.
Primaries typically have lower voter participation
Primaries typically have lower voter turnout than general elections, and the number of votes cast in lesser-known races is even lower.
For example, in the June 2022 primary election, about 86% of the 247,000 people who voted in Contra Costa County voted in the assessor’s race. The election only had a 35% turnout, and Kramer was reelected with 119,000 votes.
In the November 2022 general election, about 80% of the 394,000 people who voted in Contra Costa County marked their ballot in the clerk-recorder race that Connelly won.
Kruger points out that Kramer was reelected by less than 20% of the registered voters in Contra Costa County. She said it’s a lesson on the importance of voting in the June primary.
Gioia notes that most department heads in Contra Costa County government are appointed by the board of supervisors. The assessor and clerk-recorder are department heads that are elected by the public. He advised voters to check the candidates’ credentials and vote for the most experienced one.
“You don’t just want any politician in those positions,” he said.
