The Avalon City Council this week called the March 2024 election. The council also approved a resolution asking the County Board of Supervisors to provide election services.
The mayor’s seat, two City Council seats, the office of treasurer will be in play. The winners will serve four-year terms.
In a series of unanimous votes, the council members decided to:
* Limit candidate statements to 200 words
* Have candidates pay for the publication of their statements in a print pamphlet and on the county website
* Have candidates pay for the translation
In other news, the council also discussed what to do in the event of a tie vote.
There were two options: in the event of a tie, allow the decision to be made by lot or have a special election.
“Historically the City Council has chosen to allow, on an election-by-election basis, that a tie vote be determined by drawing lots,” according to a staff report on that subject by Senior Administrative Assistant/Deputy City Clerk Gabrielle Morones and Management Analyst Devin Hart.
“At the time this report was authored, City Staff had not yet received an estimate for a Special Runoff Election from Los Angeles County; however, based on previous election costs believe the sum will be in excess of $30,000,” according to the report.
The special election cost would be in addition to the cost of the regular election.
None of the council members cared for the idea of paying the cost of a special election.
So the council unanimously voted to have a tie broken by lot, for the March 2024 election only.
Councilmember Michael Ponce suggested having a name pulled from a hat.
In 2022, the election was a tie between Ponce and Oley Olsen.
Their names were placed in a hat.
Ponce’s name was pulled.
Basic election costs
“The cost of holding an election, based on an estimate acquired from Los Angeles County is $17,000.00 at minimum, not including legal costs associated with development of measures,” according to the staff report on calling the election. The report was prepared by Senior Administrative Assistant/Deputy City Clerk Gabrielle Morones and Management Analyst Devin Hart.
There is $25,000 in the budget to cover election expenses, according to the Morones-Hart report.
The election will be held Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Council members discussed whether candidate statements should be limited to 200 or 400 words. The council also looked at the cost of printing statements in a pamphlet versus the costs of posting the statements online.
“In 2022, Los Angeles County conducted a pilot program offering Online Candidate Statement Service. The County felt the Online Candidate Statement Service was successful and is making the offering available for cities and schools to utilize for the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election,” according to the staff report.
“Jurisdictions now have the option to allow candidates to have statements posted on the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s website at lavote.gov without being printed in the Official Sample Ballot Booklet,” according to the staff report.
“The cost for candidate statements only published online is $279.60. However, Los Angeles County is offering complimentary online publication of candidate statements when a candidate opts to have their statement included in the Official Sample Ballot Booklet,” according to the staff report.
“Due to Avalon’s small voter registry, printing a candidate statement in the Official Ballot Booklet costs $200,” according to the staff report.
