Central : TUSTIN : Plan to Align City, State Elections OKd

Citing concerns about inconveniencing voters, the City Council tentatively approved a measure Monday that would consolidate the next municipal election with the statewide primary on March 26, 1996.

The municipal election was originally scheduled for April 9, 1996, just two weeks after the primary.

The vote was 4 to 1 in favor of holding a consolidated election, with Councilman Michael J. Doyle opposed.

“It’s just a total inconvenience,” Mayor Thomas R. Saltarelli said about asking Tustin voters to go to the polls twice in two weeks. “They’re going to shoot all of us up here if we put them through that task.”

Saltarelli said that a March election is also preferable because April 9 is near the Easter holiday and many residents would be out of town.

Councilman Jeffery M. Thomas said that having two elections in two weeks would “create too much confusion” for the electorate. Thomas also agreed with an analysis by Valerie Crabill, the chief deputy city clerk, that a greater voter turnout and lower city expenses can be expected in a consolidated rather than a separate election.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not an option to have two elections in two weeks,” Councilwoman Tracy Worley said.

If the state primary is shifted to June at some future date, however, Worley suggested, and the majority of the council concurred, that Tustin’s municipal election should be moved back to April.

In opposing the motion, Doyle argued that the municipal election date has been changed too frequently in recent years. He said Tustin voters would not be confused by a separate election in April and contended that Tustin council candidates would have less visibility in a consolidated election.

“I hope you can find room for your (campaign) signs on the poles,” he said.