OJAI : City Considering Elections Switch
Low voter turnout and rising costs are prompting Ojai officials to consider moving the city’s elections from April to November once again.
Ojai is the only general law city in Ventura County that has not consolidated its city elections with statewide elections in June or November, City Manager Andrew Belknap said in a report to the City Council.
The council will consider the merits of moving the elections at its 7:30 p.m. meeting tonight. City Clerk Cyndi Reynolds is urging the move to November, saying it could save the city $10,000 next year.
In 1982, Ojai tried consolidating its election in November. But council members, fearing that local issues were submerged by state and national politics, changed the election date the following year back to April.
Reynolds reported that 76% of Ojai’s registered voters turned out in November, 1982, but the figures dropped to 34% in 1988 and 27% in 1990.
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