Highly-regarded Elections Director John Arntz not renewed for his contract by San Francisco Elections Commission

(SAN FRANCISCO) Under the leadership of Director John Arntz for 20 years, San Francisco Department of Elections has been widely recognized as a model agency for elections. It has also become one of the most diverse departments in the city with 37% Asian managers. But the Elections Commission voted 4-2 last week to start a search for a new Elections Director.

Prior to the Elections Commission meeting on November 16, 12 managers in the Elections Department submitted a joint letter to support Arntz. Arntz was told the reason for not renewing his contract was to open up the position for a search for more candidates of diverse backgrounds to apply.

The decision made by the Elections Commission has angered the elected officials and community members, including the Asian community. It is also well covered by local, national and international news media.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin took the lead to introduce a resolution on November 29 to declare the Board of Supervisors' intent to not appropriate funding for the recruitment firm to conduct a search for the new director. The resolution also urged the Elections Commission to reappoint Arntz.

Cynthia Dai, who was appointed by City Attorney David Chiu to the Elections Commission in February this year and the only Chinese American on the commission, was one of the four votes not to renew Arntz's contract.

Dai responded to the Wind Newspaper's inquiry and commented, "It would be a shame if the Board of Supervisors acted on the basis of a biased article without fully understanding the Commission's rationale for its decision to open a search. It also highlights a weakness in the Charter which gives the Elections Commission, an independent and volunteer citizens oversight body, the sole authority to initiate a search every 5 years without the funding to act on it."

Dai said the facts were misstated by most of the news media. "At our Nov. 16 meeting, the motion was to open a competitive search for Director of Elections and invite the current director to participate in the process. There was not a vote about renewing his 5-year contract, which continues through May 2023. This is a separate decision we must make by April 2023. The reason we chose to open the search now was to inform this decision in time," Dai stated.

"Doing an open search every 5 years is an integral part of the Commission's oversight mandate to ensure we have the best person running the Department of Elections," Dai added. "Since the Elections Commission was created by Prop E in 2002 and since Director John Arntz was hired in May, 2003, the City has not opened a search. After almost 20 years, we believe it's time and a very small investment over this time period."

"We are fortunate that the current director's competence is not at issue, but that doesn't mean that there might not be even better talent available to the City. We believe it's in the best interest of the City's voters and residents to consider that possibility by sourcing a full and diverse talent pool from a nationwide search," said Dai.

Chinese community leaders do not agree with Dai. Kit Man Lam, parent volunteer leader of the Recall the School Board movement and campaign manager for D4 Supervisor-elect Joel Engardio in the November election, was one of them.

"I went to the Elections Department couples of weeks ago to monitor the vote counts for Joel (Engardio) for five hours. Arntz was there to tell us all the procedures. He knows all the details of running the elections very well. I would say San Francisco could have fair, open and transparent elections because of John Arntz's leadership," said Lam.

"The way Elections Commission made the decision just like the former School Board Members who were recalled by the voters.” Lam had questions on the decision. "Why would the Elections Commission spend the taxpayer money to search for another director and give up the best director we have? Why would the Elections Commission take a risk to hire a new director who might turn the department around going backward? It is about leadership. John Arntz is a leader to run the department."

In April this year, Arntz submitted the Racial Equity Progress Report to the Elections Commission. The department workforce demographic data indicated that the minority has become the majority in the Elections Department. At the management levels, White and Asian Americans were both 37%. African Americans represent 13% of the management positions, Hispanic and Filipino Americans were both 6%.

George Chan, Executive Director of the Chinese Newcomer Service Center in Chinatown, recognized the progress of the Elections Department in reaching out to the Chinese community in languages.

"We have seen more Chinese speaking staff from the Elections Department in recent years come to our office to inform the community with more details of the elections. They have tried hard to hire more bilingual workers as well," Chan said.

Catherine Lee, Voter Information Manager and Chinese language spokeswoman of the Elections Department, was one of the managers to write a joint letter to support Arntz.

“I started as a temporary election worker in August 2016 and was offered a full time job when the election was over. It has been my first and the only job since I immigrated to the Bay Area from Hong Kong,” said Lee.

Lee was a TV news anchor and reporter in Hong Kong before she immigrated to the Bay Area. She was promoted to a manager position after working as a full time staff for over a year. Arntz assigned her to be the Chinese speaking spokeswoman for the department. "We also have a Spanish speaking spokesperson under John's leadership," said Lee.