Two related stories.
Early to the party - Voting: Poll workers say regional centers are swamped on first day of in-person balloting.
Scattered paper jams, tech glitches don’t spoil first in-person day at the polls. many of 2020’s early voters showed up to voting centers before they even opened on Saturday, Oct. 24, the first day of in-person balloting in Los Angeles County.
But much to the relief of voters and elections officials, the kind of polling-place meltdowns that left voters angered and election officials worried back in March, when the county debuted its $300 million network of vote centers, did not repeat. Back in March, for the primary, many voters were left seething after tech glitches delayed the opening of some sites and even forced the Hollywood site to close down.
But Saturday’s voting played out much more smoothly. And when issues did pop up, they appeared to have been resolved quickly in most cases.
Behind the scenes, poll workers reported paper jams and other tech issues, some of which caused short delays.
Many voters were certainly eager to cast their ballots. Several voting centers saw a line wrapped around the building before they opened. Such hubs included large polling locations, such as the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Arcadia, stocked with 45 of the county’s new voting devices.
Jim Bauml, senior biologist at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, keeps track of the plants there with a global positioning system (GPS). Each plant's location coordinates are mapped and input into a computer.
Technology might steal the election show today as local voters for the first time choose two school board members using computers rather than punch-card ballots.
Santa Anita Park to be a Los Angeles County polling place (Vote Center) for the first time in the racetrack's 86 year history. It'll be on the first floor of its Clubhouse, open 9 AM - 8 PM from October 30 through November 2 and 6 AM - 9 PM on November 3.
Santa Anita Canyon Road, aka Chantry Flat Road, has been jointly owned by Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, and Los Angeles County for years. The 3-mile mountain road that leads to the Angeles National Forest will be turned over to Los Angeles County if the cities pay to fix it up. Arcadia and Sierra Madre have completed their repairs and are waiting for Monrovia to start a roughly $500,000 project.
Janet Sporleder, a veteran city employee, has been named the new city librarian. Her appointment will be effective July 1, 2001. She replaces outgoing City Librarian, Kent Ross.
Results are in from yesterday's city council elections for the City of Arcadia and the City of Sierra Madre. In Arcadia, the semi-official results show the three seats will be filled by Bob Harbicht, Mark "Mickey" Segal, and Peter Amundson. Sierra Madre voted in Joe Mosca, Josh Moran and Nancy Walsh (uncertified totals).
There are seven people running for two seats in the April 11 Arcadia City Council election: Sheng Chang, Charles "Chuck" Chivetta, Mary Dougherty, Vincent J. Foley, John S. MacDonnell, Gino Roncelli and Mark "Mickey" Segal.
Richard Schulhof is the top candidate in the search for executive director of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. His salary will be $117,000, plus an annual supplement of $52, 935, plus an annual performance bonus of up to $10,000. The supplement and bonus will be paid by the nonprofit Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation. He is the former executive director of Descanso Gardens. He replaces Mark Wuorms.
Dominic Lazzaretto will be the new Arcadia City Manager, pending City Council's approval next week. He replaces Don Penman and is expected to start on March 26. He has been City Manager of La Palma for 6 years.