The Arcadia City Council put off voting for a combined school and city election until it can determine whether the county, in that instance, would give up running the school election.
Arcadia registered voters received the second in a series of mailings last week, urging them to vote in the $27.9 million bond election on April 20th. A similar bond measure failed by less than 1% in an election on September 15, 1992.
Arcadia okays all mail-in ballot for this spring's election. This marks Arcadia's third consecutive all mail-in election since adopting a 2011 ordinance that granted City Council authority to eliminate traditional polling in advance of a general municipal election. The mail-in election costs $115,000, the traditional one about 10% more.
Arcadia, Sierra Madre and Bradbury are holding elections today on tax measures and city council members. Arcadia voters will choose two City Council members from the candidates running--Gary Kovacic, John Wuo, Sho Tay, Henry Nunez, and Mary Dougherty--and vote on Measure D, the extension ofthe hotel room tax from a 30-day maximum to a 90-day stay. Arcadia's election is being conducted through an all-mail ballot for the first time.
Don't forget to send in your ballots, Arcadians. The April 10 Arcadia City Council election ballots were sent to all registered voters on March 12. Voters can mail them or drop them off at Arcadia City Hall, 240 W. Huntington Drive. Brief summary of each candidate is given.
Arcadia City Council elections to be held on Tuesday April 14, 2020. This will not be a district-wide election. Only registered voters in Districts 1 and 4 will receive a vote-by-mail ballot beginning March 16, 2020. Completed ballots must be postmarked by April 14, 2020. The candidates are District 1: April Verlato and Yuli Sira and in District 4: Paul Cheng and Peter Amundson.
Plan to consolidate elections debated. City Council and Board of Education informally discussing consolidating their elections, would require charter change.
Steinmeier and Yuen are elected to School Board. Yuen is the first Asian-American elected to the board and this was the first full election conducted on computerized voting machines in LA County.
Arcadia will not be voting on whether to have combined school board/city council elections next April. On a 3-2 vote, the City Council turned down the idea.
The Arcadia City Council debated the question of whether Council and Board of Education elections should be combined and decided to study the issue in greater detail in the coming election.
The City Council agreed that private karaoke rooms, which have been associated with criminal activity in the area, should be barred from the city. The proposed ordinance, which will be considered August 3rd, would allow alcohol in restaurants with karaoke.
Tax reform candidates Jeff Dring and Richard Haltom won the two city council seats in the April 8 election. Dring received 3,750 votes while Haltom received 3,390. Of the 27,001 registered voters in the city, 9,074 voted (33.6%)
Steinmeier and Yuen win seats on the school board. This was the first election to be conducted totally on touchscreen voting machines and results were available in 51 minutes.
Arcadia vote-by-mail ballots contain translation error in Chinese-language instructions which could cause some votes to be invalidated. Five candidates vie for the two seats on Arcadia City Council in this April's General Municipal Election, but erroneous instructions in Chinese language said to choose up to three candidates.
Former mayor Jim Helms proposed a charter change that would require a runoff election if no candidate for City Council received at least 50 percent of the vote. In the last election, no candidate received 50 percent.
City and school elections will not be combined as originally planned, according to a proposal by the Arcadia City Council. It will cost the school district $16,000 for it's April school board election.
Despite strong backing from the Santa Anita Oaks Homeowners Association, a proposal to replace existing street lights with new ornamental lights was overwhelmingly rejected by residents in a mail-in ballot election. All Arcadia residents will vote on new street lighting assessments in July. Under that measure, all households would pay one of three yearly assessment fees, depending on how they benefit from street lights.
Voters max out Arcadia sales tax. Huge lead for Measure A pushes levy to 10.25% ceiling set by state. The election was conducted exclusively by mail. The vote was for a .75% sales tax increase to bring the tax from 9.5% to 10.25%. This hike could bring in $8.6 million annually to keep city services, especially public safety, at current levels.