Guest Column: An overview of district-based elections

By Ardy Kassakhian

March 17, 2017 5:35 PM PT

It seems like the 2016 presidential election was just yesterday, and we’re already gearing up for Glendale’s General Municipal Election on April 4. This will be one with a lot of offices up for election and a ballot initiative for voters to consider.

But there’s more: For the first time in Glendale’s history, the Glendale Unified School District and Glendale Community College board of trustees will hold elections for trustees who reside in specific geographic areas instead of having all the trustees run in an at-large election. This means that each trustee will be elected from a specific area where they live.

GUSD created five trustee areas: A, B, C, D and E. Each school board member must reside within a specific geographic district and be elected by the voters of that district. This means some important changes for our next election as some Glendale residents will not be able to vote for their area’s trustee in this coming election. Only areas B, C and D are up for election. If you reside within one of these districts, you will be able to run for that specific seat and/or may vote only for one person who is a candidate within your area.

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GCC’s district also consists of five trustee areas: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Only areas 2, 3 and 4 will be up for election. Just as with the GUSD elections, if you reside within one of these districts, you will be able to run for office or vote for only one of the individuals who is a candidate in your area.

It’s important to remember that these changes will not affect City Council, city clerk and city treasurer elections. These citywide offices will still be elected by an at-large vote and all registered voters who live in the boundaries of the city may vote for up to three candidates running for City Council, one candidate for city clerk and one for treasurer.

In addition to all of these different offices and changes to how we vote, voters will also be considering a measure that will address term limits for council members. Measure L will limit council members to three terms totaling 12 years of service. More information on this measure and all of the candidates will be forthcoming on our city’s elections website — www.GlendaleVotes.org.

Remember, voting is one of our most important civic duties and we want to hear from you on April 4. Glendale votes and so should you!

ARDY KASSAKHIAN is the Glendale City Clerk.