Giacchino's argument is based on the city charter, which states that candidates are ineligible to run for re-election within two years of the second consecutive term they served. And since Rotkin and Mathews last served on the council on Nov. 28, 2000, it follows that they don't qualify until three weeks after the election, Giacchino says.

"There are rumblings that the two-year clause was meant to be generic, rather than two times 365 days. But that kind of arrogance is exactly what has made me determined to run, though I'm not a Republican or a law-and-order kind of guy," says Giacchino. "I think it's a gross abuse by the city of their duty to enforce the election laws, which need to be closely adhered to, otherwise you'll get a Florida-type situation."

Meanwhile, political consultant Jennifer Bragar, who widely emailed Giacchino's arguments last week, denied being his campaign manager.

"Aldo and I don't have anything official set up, and I'm not opposing anyone's candidacy. I have a good relationship with Mike and I've worked on women's issues with Cynthia. My point is that elections are such an important part of the democratic process that the rules and language should be clear. How many people were discouraged from running because they thought Mike and Cynthia were eligible?"

Indeed, aside from Councilmember Tim Fitzmaurice, Rotkin and Mathews are the only candidates with political experience, and--you guessed it--name recognition.

City Attorney John Barisone says it's clear to him that the charter was intended to make sure people don't run three consecutive terms in a row.

"If you applied Giacchino principles of interpretation, then Congressmember Sam Farr would also be ineligible for re-election on Nov. 5," Barisone said.

Giacchino's legal adviser, Barney Elders, disagrees. "In 1985, when former Councilmember Joe Ghio was challenged for the same reasons, the then-city attorney only issued an opinion, so there was no legal precedent," says Elders, who dismisses as "irrelevant" the 1914 Hops vs. Poe case of alcohol licensing in Calaveras County, which focuses, he says, on "a different calendar arrangement."

More pertinent, Elders argues, is that by taking 365 days to be a year, you disqualify a candidate for an entire four-year term, which, he believes, is the charter's intent.

"It raises the need for new people. All the problems we currently have are the result of decisions made by people who've already been in office," says Elders, who will hand the case to an election specialist in the event of a lawsuit.

According to Joe Ghio, former City Attorney Neil Anderson did not clarify the charter after 1985, "because he believed it wasn't a big deal, and we were doing work on desexing the charter's language, and he didn't want to confuse the issue. Then he died at age 39, and there was an institutional memory lapse."