Concord Mayor, Vice Mayor Retain Roles; Measure V Certified

CONCORD, CA — Concord City Council on Tuesday certified the results of the Nov. 3 general election. Councilwoman Carlyn Obringer won reelection to her City Council seat representing the City’s District 2, and Councilman Edi Birsan won reelection to his City Council seat as the Council member representing the City’s District 4.

It was the first election in which both Obringer and Birsan were elected by district. Birsan ran unopposed while Obringer was one of five candidates for the Council seat.

The other three other Concord City Council members — Mayor Tim McGallian, Vice Mayor Dominic Aliano and Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister — were elected by district in the 2018 general election.

Tuesday was also the annual transition meeting when the Council typically rotates the vice mayor into the mayor’s role and selects a new vice mayor.

This year, instead of rotating the roles, councilmembers approved Aliano’s motion to retain McGallian as mayor for the year ahead.

"These have been unprecedented times and we have unpredictable times ahead of us," Aliano said. "The City of Concord has done a good job of responding to COVID. We know that COVID will be with us in 2021, and we will definitely still be in the shelter-in-place going into next year. I think it is important for the City of Concord to maintain its consistency and its leadership."

The City Council also voted to retain Aliano as Vice Mayor for the year ahead.

Lastly, City Council members on Tuesday certified the election results for Measure V, a ballot measure to extend and increase the city’s existing local use and transaction tax (sales tax) from a half-cent to a full cent as of April 1, 2021.

Measure V is a general tax and required a simple majority to pass, which it narrowly did by less than one percentage point: 50.47 percent voted yes; 49.53 percent voted no.

"Thank you to Concord voters for approving Measure V," Mayor McGallian said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the community to maintain the vital services that residents clearly value, in particular amid the ongoing pandemic and local recovery efforts moving forward."

While the funds are not set aside for specific projects, the City has indicated the funds are intended to be used for community priorities, including:

• Expanded pothole repair & street maintenance
• Major repair of community streets
• 911 emergency response times
• Emergency response and recovery for natural disasters
• Homelessness response
• Mental health crisis response
• Community-based policing
• Parks & open space
• Senior center and programs