Voters Will Decide Today on Mayor, Supervisors and Ballot Propositions

San Diego voters will go to the polls today for the final 1988 presidential primary, as well as to elect a mayor, a majority of the county Board of Supervisors and to decide on 3 dozen local and statewide ballot propositions.

Throughout San Diego County, 274 candidates seeking 190 elective positions appear on the ballot, according to the county voter registrar’s office. Twelve statewide propositions and 24 local measures, including a proposed half-cent sales tax to build new jails and courtrooms, also are on the ballot.

The 1,558 polling places throughout the county will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Persons uncertain of where to vote or who experience any other Election Day problems can contact the county voter registrar’s office at 565-5800 for assistance.

With the presidential primaries as well as many of the local races lacking drama, election officials fear that there could be a low turnout among San Diego County’s 1.1 million registered voters.

However, county election officials, “not wanting to be self-defeating,” as one of them put it, by projecting a low turnout have not issued an official estimate of how many voters they believe will actually go to the polls today. In the last presidential primary in June, 1984, the countywide turnout was 44.5%, about four percentage points below the statewide average.

Among the major local races on the ballot, San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor faces former City Councilman Floyd Morrow and three minor candidates in her bid for reelection. If either O’Connor or Morrow receives more than 50% of the vote, the primary victor will win reelection outright, precluding the need for a November runoff.

Three members of the county Board of Supervisors--George Bailey, Brian Bilbray and Susan Golding--also are running for reelection, but only Bailey faces primary opposition. Like the mayoral candidates, Bailey must surpass 50% in the primary to avoid a runoff.

Incumbents in San Diego’s congressional and state legislative delegations also are on the ballot, most of them unopposed in their respective primaries. The major contested races include the 77th Assembly District Republican primary between state legislative aide Carol Bentley and San Diego City Councilwoman Gloria McColl, and the contest between lawyer Rob Butterfield Jr. and former Reagan Administration aide Luis Acle for the GOP nomination in the 44th Congressional District.

Proposition A, the proposed half-cent sales tax that would generate an estimated $1.6 billion for jails and courts over the next decade, is a revised version of a proposal rejected by San Diego voters two years ago. However, the 1986 measure, which drew 50.7% support, required a two-thirds majority for passage, while this year’s proposal needs only a simple majority.

The other countywide ballot measure is Proposition B, a plan to temporarily waive the county’s so-called Gann limit, which restricts government spending under a formula based on population growth and inflation.

Twenty-two other propositions appear on the ballots in portions of the county, including Proposition Y, which would increase San Diego city schools’ share of the property tax to handle the capital requirements of growing enrollments.

There also are City Council elections in El Cajon, Escondido, Lemon Grove and Fallbrook--the latter, assuming an incorporation measure passes there--and races for seats on the San Diego city school board and county Board of Education. Dozens of Republican and Democratic Party activists also are running for seats on their respective county central committees.