TUSTIN : Municipal Elections Scheduled March 26

A routine move to set the city’s municipal elections for March 26, the same day as California’s presidential primary and other elections, barely passed on a 2 to 1 vote this week, with Councilman Michael J. Doyle dissenting.

Mayor Jim Potts and Councilman Thomas R. Saltarelli were absent from Monday’s meeting for business reasons, officials said. Doyle is a longstanding opponent of consolidating the city’s elections, which are usually held in April.

Doyle was the lone dissenter in a vote last November to support a consolidation of the elections.

He upheld his position during Monday’s vote to establish a specific election day.

“Most of the people I’ve spoken to in this city do not want to have the election date to be the same as the primary,” Doyle later said. “When it was just our election, people could focus [on the local candidates] better. And we’ve changed it four times in the last eight years. At this rate, you never know when to vote.”

Councilwoman Tracy Worley and Councilman Jeffery M. Thomas felt that the move would be more convenient for voters. Cost was not a significant factor in the decision, officials said, since the city clerk’s office estimates that only about $5,000 is saved by consolidating the elections.

In March, the council seats of Potts, Saltarelli and Thomas will be up for election, along with the city clerk’s position. The filing period for candidates will be Dec. 4-29, officials said.