Comparing Costs of Spring and Fall Elections in Tustin

During the last several weeks, a considerable amount of criticism has been published regarding the decision by the Tustin City Council to revert back to April from November for local City Council elections.

Although the reasons have been carefully stated during council discussion and relayed to reporters so that the details could be published, this has not happened. The last Tustin City Council election was held in November, 1988, at the same time as the general presidential election. Of the 21,000 registered voters in Tustin, 15,900 went to the polls to vote. However, of these, less than 12,000 voted in the Tustin City Council election. In other words, almost 4,000 voters voted for the president but weren’t interested enough to vote for the Tustin City Council!

As part of my campaign, every one of these 4,000 voters received a personally addressed mailer from me asking for their vote. Many other candidates did the same thing. If you assume that each mailing piece costs at least 50 cents, mailing to the 12,000 Tustin City Council voters cost over $6,000. The total cost of my successful November, 1988, campaign was in excess of $25,000. This compares to the total cost of my successful April, 1984, campaign of only $5,000. A total of $100,000 was spent by all the candidates in November, 1988, as compared to less than $20,000 in April, 1984. This increase is a direct consequence of holding the election in November and being obliged to compete for attention among many state and federal officeholders. Campaign costs of $25,000 discourage many qualified candidates from entering the competition. Placing the election back to April will provide much more opportunity for a newcomer to compete.

Forty percent of California cities have April elections. I support a local election that touches local people at a cost that is reasonable.

RICHARD B. EDGAR

Mayor, city of Tustin