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EMERYVILLE ELECTION UPDATE

Martin Denies City Council Run

John VanLandingham
The Emeryville Connection Staff
June 2007

Freshman City Councilman John Fricke appears to be telling three other council members whose terms expire in November that he wants to unseat at least one of them.

On March 27, Fricke, an attorney, formed a city council campaign committee for Planning Commission Chairman Jim Martin, an environmental consultant.

Martin, whose commission appointment expires June 30, says he’s not interested and has no intention of running for office.

“It’s not true. No way. I’m looking into how this came out. No I’m not interested,” Martin said in a telephone interview.

The filing appears to be an open declaration of war on the other three council members with whom Fricke appears in public forums to be on good terms with, apart from a few disagreements.

Martin’s reluctance doesn’t seem to faze Fricke who identified himself as the treasurer of the Jim Martin for City Council committee in the Statement of Organization papers filed with the California Secretary of State’s office.

“I told Jim that I was forming the committee -- I emailed him a copy of the completed form before I filed it. I had been encouraging him to run, and finally decided to form the committee,” Fricke said via e-mail.

“I will not terminate the committee. The filing deadline is in several months. Hope springs eternal,” he said.

Fricke also said that he set up the campaign committee so Martin could not control any funds. Community sources said that Fricke had solicited contributions to the campaign.

“I created a ‘primarily formed’ committee with the secretary of state and opened a bank account. Both are called, Jim Martin for City Council. (The reason it’s ‘primarily formed’ is because Jim has not agreed to run, and therefore it is not controlled by the candidate.) In fact, Jim is adamant that he will not choose to run.”

Filing for Emeryville City Council officially opens July 16 and closes Aug. 10. If no incumbents file for re-election, filing will close Aug. 15, according to City Clerk Karen Hemphill.

Mayor Nora Davis, Vice Mayor Ruth Atkin and Councilman Ken Bukowski are the three incumbents whose terms expire in November.

Atkin replied to an e-mail inquiry about Fricke’s actions that in her experience on the council, she had never heard of another member soliciting people to run against colleagues.

Davis, who disclosed she will run for re-election in November, was not perturbed by Fricke’s move.

“I’d hadn’t really given it much consideration. I am running again in November. I consider it healthy for the city when it’s a good race and a lot of people show interest. It’s not an easy job. We’ve got some very volatile situations and we need people with clear heads,” she said in a telephone interview.

“There is a possibility it [a Council member setting up a ‘primary formed committee’ on behalf of someone else] has happened before but I’d have to think about it,” she said.

John VanLandingham is a writer for The Emeryville Connection. If you have a question or comment, please contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com