Facing the prospect of imposing multiple trips to the ballot box on local voters, the Manhattan Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to consolidate its elections with Los Angeles County’s in the event of a countywide special election.
The approved resolutions place control over elections for the March 7, 2017 ballot, when local voters will elect three city council members and the city treasurer, with the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters. Although candidates would be able to pull papers and register locally, ballot distribution and vote tallying would be handled at the county office in Norwalk.
It is not clear that the proposed special election will actually occur. The Board of Supervisors will decide December 9 whether to hold the special election. But members of the board of supervisors are facing an election themselves next week, and the board that will vote on whether to hold the special election will have two different members than the existing one.
In the event that the county decides not to hold the special election, the council will be able to maintain locally run elections, according to City Clerk Liza Tamura.
Although the election would be held on the same day as the city’s local elections, failing to consolidate could require voters to fill out two separate ballots and, for in-person voting, go to two different polling places, Tamura said. Council members were loathe to give up local control of elections, the imposition and its potential to depress voter turnout — already low for local elections — tilted the council toward consolidation, with the resolutions winning unanimous approval.
“To me, this is a no-brainer,” said Council member Wayne Powell.
A locally run election is expected to cost the city about $100,000, with a consolidated election clocking in at about half that. Despite the benefits associated with consolidating, councilmembers were irritated that they were forced to make a decision on consolidation when it was not clear that it would be necessary.
“It does seem that the county is coming in at the last minute. They haven’t even made up their mind yet, and they’re forcing how many cities to decide on this?” said Mayor Tony D’Errico.
The resentment stemmed in part from obstacles associated with giving up local control. For example, in the event of a problem with a ballot, voters will have to obtain a replacement from the county office in Norwalk, rather than at City Hall. Councilmembers also lamented the loss of sentimental value associated with tallying ballots at the Joslyn Center.
“It’s homey, it’s friendly, it’s small-town,” said Councilmember Amy Howorth.
Tuesday night’s discussion marked the second time in recent months that the council has discussed election consolidation. Over the summer, the council chose to slightly shorten the terms of local officials elected in March 2017 and March 2019, so that future elections will align with federal elections in November 2020 and November 2022. The move was required under SB 415, a California law that became effective earlier this year.
Although no mention of the subject of the special election was made at the council meeting, it is widely believed that it would be a sales tax measure to fund services for the homeless. Members of the county Board of Supervisors have discussed such a ballot measure multiple times in recent months.
Candidates for the two contested board spots have been coy about whether they would support holding the special election. Janice Hahn, who leads former Manhattan mayor Steve Napolitano in the race to claim the Fourth District seat representing the South Bay, has said she supports looking at “every possible revenue stream.”
