City Council to Consider Election Plans

The Pasadena City Council on Monday will consider preliminary steps needed for holding a Primary Nominating Election on March 7 next year for certain City Council District seats, and if necessary, for a General Municipal runoff Election on April 18.

As planned, the primary elections, to elect Councilmembers representing Districts 3, 5 and 7, will be consolidated with the Primary Nominating Election for members of the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education from Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Up for discussion at the City Council’s meeting Monday are three resolutions, one of which relates to holding the primary election for both the City Council members and member of the PUSD Board of Education as part of a consolidated Special Countrywide Election within Los Angeles County.

Earlier, Dean Logan, Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, wrote to Pasadena City Clerk Mark Jomsky to say the County Board of Supervisors are inclined to call a Special Countywide Election on March 7, 2017, and that the county is prepared to administer Pasadena’s General Municipal Election on that date with or without a Board of Supervisors measure.

“To minimize cost for the City and voter confusion associated with overlapping and/or concurrent elections, we are encouraging the City to take action now to seek election services from the County,” Logan’s letter said.

Jomsky is expected to explain the implications of such a county move at Monday’s meeting, when he submits the three resolutions.

One of the other two resolutions up for deliberation on Monday fixes the date on March 7 for Pasadena’s Primary Nominating Election to coincide with the PUSD primary election, and the General Municipal Election on April 18; and the other sets forth regulations relating to candidate statements for the Primary Nominating Election and the General Municipal Election.

In an Agenda Report for Monday’s meeting, Jomsky said city staff agrees that conducting separate City and Country elections on the same date (March 7) should be avoided as this will likely cause voter confusion and is generally viewed as an inefficient use of public resources.

Jomsky stressed, however, that as the county Board of Supervisors hasn’t decided yet on a Special Countywide Election, the City should prepare to conduct stand-alone elections administered by the City Clerk’s office.

If a Special Countywide Election is approved, the Pasadena City Clerk’s office would oversee the nomination process, forward the necessary ballot information to the County Clerk’s Office, and then relinquish the duties for administering and conducting the City and School District elections to the County.

The County has provided cost estimates for these· services in the amounts of $63,242.46 for the City Council District elections, and $168,149.83 for the Board of Education District elections.

Should the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors choose not to proceed with a Special Countywide Election, the Pasadena City Council will still need the county Registrar of Voters to provide election services for Pasadena’s March 7 primary election, in accordance with Elections Code Section 10002. The same services shall be provided for the April 18 General Election, which if necessary, will be conducted as a stand-alone election.

Services to be provided by the County include voter records, identifying names and addresses of all eligible registered voters, precinct maps for consolidation of County precincts, verification of signatures on nomination papers and vote by mail ballot applications, as necessary; precinct officer materials, and the formula for the allocation of election costs among the City and School District in accordance with the California Education Code

Monday’s resolutions also set forth the recommended stipend amounts for poll workers, poll worker training, bilingual poll worker pay, and custodial and polling site rental fees during the elections.
As in prior years, the stipend for poll workers will be $110 for inspectors and $85 for clerks. Poll workers will receive an additional $25 stipend for attending poll worker training and a $15 bilingual stipend when demonstrating proficiency in Spanish, Chinese, or Korean, which are the required minority languages for the Pasadena area under the Federal Voting Rights Act.