TUSTIN : Group Challenges Election Day Change

A group of Tustin residents is organizing an effort to stop the city from changing its elections from November to April.

The City Council approved the change on a 3-2 vote last month and was scheduled to adopt the ordinance on Monday, but complications have arisen.

City Manager William A. Huston said the council probably will have to make a technical change in the ordinance and reintroduce it, deleting a provision that calls for approval of the change by the County Board of Supervisors. County Registrar of Voters Donald Tanney and Deputy County Counsel Kathy Paul, however, said this provision is not necessary.

If the council proceeds with the change, as appears likely, the vote would become final at the Nov. 20 council meeting.

Tustin would then become the first city in the county to move its election from November to April rather than vice versa. Most cities have consolidated local elections with general elections to save money and increase voter turnout.

Opponents of the move to April elections say they are ready to fight it.

A group spearheaded by Tustin residents Nova Pack, Berklee Maughan, Mark Bachan and Carole Bryant has written a referendum calling for a repeal of the change because it was passed without considering the wishes of the voters.

The referendum is also backed by the Tustin Voter Awareness Committee, a political action group consisting of the Tustin Police Officers and Tustin Municipal Employees associations, according to Robert La Barge, an executive board member of the political action group.

The group would have 30 days after the ordinance becomes effective to gather about 2,000 signatures in support of the referendum, or 10% of Tustin’s registered voters.

If the group succeeds, the change would be suspended and the council would have two options: repealing the ordinance or calling a special election on the issue.

The debate over whether to change the elections has once again drawn battle lines between council members John Kelly and Earl J. Prescott on one side and Mayor Ursula E. Kennedy, Ronald B. Hoesterey and Richard B. Edgar on the other.

Kennedy, Hoesterey and Edgar say that local issues are overshadowed by national and state issues during November elections.

“April is the only time that the city gets to be the big headline,” Kennedy said. “For a city under 75,000, it’s still a good idea to have separate elections.”

They argued that it costs less for candidates to campaign in April than November, making local offices more accessible to average citizens.

They also claim that voters in April are generally more concerned and informed about local issues than they might be in November. Hoesterey said that about a quarter of those who went to the polls last November did not bother to vote for council members.

“It is sort of a way to differentiate between who is going to do the best job in electing officials,” Kennedy said.

But those who favor November elections say this is an elitist attitude.

“It is an insult to the majority of voters in Tustin to change because you’ll get a more informed voter,” Kelly said at a recent council meeting. “It should be our focus to encourage the people of Tustin, all the people of Tustin, to vote.”

The registrar of voters office estimates that holding a special city election will cost the city $13,000 to $16,000.