by Mark McDermott 

Measure MB, the proposed renewal of the local parcel tax meant to stave off teacher layoffs, finished election night just below the required two-thirds vote total for approval. But hope was very much still alive among the ballot measure’s supporters because several batches of votes have yet to be counted. 

Campaign co-chairs Nathalie Rosen and Tyler Morant expressed hope and gratitude as they awaited more vote tallies. 

“I’m feeling optimistic,” Rosen said. “We always knew this was going to be a close election because of the high passage threshold. To get to 70% or anywhere near is pretty unique for any election. So we tried to stress that throughout the campaign. We tried to remind everybody at every opportunity that every vote would count.” 

“Regardless of the tightness of it, we’re beyond grateful,” Morant said. “We have 100 volunteers come out to support us, and various other support from all areas of the community —  from parents with kids in the district to people with kids out of the district to empty nesters. People came out to support the community. So we are beyond optimistic of just that alone, but we are hopeful for the outcome. I am proud of what we did.” 

By the end of election night, Measure MB was at 65.11%, just shy of the 66.67% required by state law for such ballot measures. The measure garnered 4,648 yes votes, and 2,491 votes against it. 

Voters in 2018 approved Measure MB with over 69 percent of the vote. The $225 parcel tax has provided $2.5 million annually, specifically allocated towards paying MBUSD teachers. The MBUSD Board of Education on February 28 authorized the layoffs of 33 teachers (see accompanying story). By state law, pink slips must be issued by March 15. The hope is that Measure MB might still pass and save 20 of those positions. 

According to the LA County Registrar’s office, the initial results released included vote-by-mail ballots received before March 5, followed by early votes cast in-person at vote centers, then votes cast in-person on Election Day. Ballots cast by mail and postmarked by March 5 will be counted up until March 12. Updates will be given daily this work week and next (Monday through Friday between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.), with final tallies on March 26 and certification of the election by April 4. 

Rosen said that the campaign has heard from many people who said they voted late. 

“We are hearing from so many people, ‘Oh, my husband just mailed it yesterday and he was a yes.’ ‘My mother in law just mailed her ballot and she was a yes,’” she said.  “Anecdotally, we’re hearing from a lot of people that they only just mailed out their ballots yesterday, so we’re just going to keep the faith that those votes are going to come in for us.” 

Regardless of the outcome, the Measure MB campaign achieved a tenor of community unity reminiscent of its initial passage in 2018, in contrast to the vehement opposition and resultant divide that arose around last year’s Measure A campaign. That campaign, which was citizen-initiated and thus needed only a simple majority voter approval, sought a $1,095 per year parcel tax that would have raised $12 million a year for local schools. It lost in a landslide, with 69 percent of voters opposing it. Some of those same people, notably Manhattan Beach Mayor Joe Franklin, worked wholeheartedly on behalf of Measure MB. 

“I’ve enthusiastically supported every District-led bond and parcel tax since our children started Pacific Pre-K 25 years ago,” Franklin said last week. “At $225 per year, Measure MB is simply an extension of the current parcel tax voters approved by a super majority six years ago.” 

“We found common ground,” Morant said. “That was important. And that feels good. It’s good to work with your neighbors. We are not always going to agree on everything, but when we do agree, we need to work together.” 

Measure MB fared better in terms of percentage of voter approval than the three other school-related bond measures on the ballot in LA County, although those three —  in Culver City, Garvey, and South Whittier —  were all school bonds and were above the 55 percent threshold needed for that type of ballot measure. 

Rosen said that because this was an off-cycle election, the campaign knew this would be an uphill slog. 

“It was an off election, and so voter turnout in general is always going to be low,” she said. “I think at one point statewide, they were saying there was a 16% turnout, and we were simultaneously at that moment showing 30% turnout. So I think that’s also something to be proud of — that clearly, we did our job, and informed the electorate that the election was happening.” 

The co-chairs had specific praise for campaign volunteer organizer Michael Unton and Jen Dohner, who headed the messaging committee, for their efforts. 

“Michael Unton kept a whole organization of 100 volunteers and five people at the top organized and on task every day,” Morant said. “It was amazing, the Herculean effort he helped coordinate. And everything that our messaging committee did with Jen Dohner —  regardless of where we are at, at this moment, and heading into the rest of the week when it will be decided, we are in awe of what has happened.” 

“We left it all in the ring,” Morant said. “As we wait and the votes get tallied, it feels a little bit more like a boxing match, even though it didn’t feel like one during the campaign. We are just waiting for the judges to release their decision.”