Garen Yegparian
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
It’s that time again, local elections in Los Angeles County.
Burbank leads the pack with its February 28th Primary Election. Unlike most other cities in the county, Burbank holds its election through an all-mail ballot. All registered voters receive it. In fact, this year, they have already arrived, earlier than ever! (See the accompanying picture to watch for the envelope). These ballots must be mailed or dropped off at designated locations and received by Election Day in the City Clerk’s office.
The Burbank ANCA has already made its endorsements (see the news item) for all offices: city council – 3 seats, school board – 2 seats, and running unopposed are the incumbent city clerk and treasurer. Candidates who garner more than 50% of the vote will win their seats immediately. However many seats remain unfilled, twice that number of candidates will advance to the April 11 General (runoff) Election.
Burbank Ballot envelope
The city council race, with eight people running, is interesting because there are at least two challengers who are likely to get respectable support, so the Armenian vote will make a difference for the incumbents who have been endorsed. In the school board election, with only three candidates, in all likelihood, both seats will be filled in the primary. Here, too, Armenian voters have a key role to play.
A week after Burbank, the City of Los Angeles has its primary on March 7, with a General Election scheduled for May 16. It includes the LA Unified School and Community College Districts, both of which encompass numerous other cities, some of which also have their own city councils on the ballot, too. I’ll have some comments as we get closer, but watch for the Armenian candidates, at least one of whom (Karo Torossian) has a very good shot at being elected. There is also a very contentious ballot measure addressing development-related issues.
Pasadena, too, has its primary scheduled for March 7, but an earlier general than LA, April 18. No Armenian candidates this time, but I’ll cover this later, too.
A month after LA, Glendale residents go to the polls on April 4. This is a one-round affair. The highest vote-getters win their seats. Here, too, like LA, school and community college district elections will also be conducted, and, there are Armenian candidates to watch. For the first time in over a decade, a ridiculously large number of our compatriots are not running. This may be a sign of our community’s growing political maturity. The other notable development in Glendale’s case is that the school and college elections will be run in districts, as in LA. The city council elections will still be held at-large, i.e. city-wide.
This covers the “Armenian tier” of LA County with regard to elections. Most important is that we all vote, vote, vote! These local elections have a far more immediate impact on our daily lives than any Donald-Hillary matchup ever could.
Source: Asbarez
Link: Burbank at Bat, LA on Deck, More in the Hole