By ALITA GODWIN

From now until Nov. 8, Compton residents will have the opportunity to vote on two upcoming ballot measures extremely vital to the City’s future.

 

The first, Measure AM will reduce the number of regular City Council meetings a month from four council
meetings to two council meetings.

 

The second, Measure ED would change the city’s current election year from odd to even numbered years to coincide with the statewide primary elections and the presidential elections.

 

The measures have the ability to boost the productivity of City staff and help reduce the costs of elections.

By changing the required number of regular council meetings from four meetings to two per month, city staff will have time to focus on other important city matters. Currently, many staff hours are utilized to prepare for the council meetings each week. Measure AM will decrease the amount of time needed to prepare weekly council meetings.

Measure AM will not lead to less transparency as the city is still required to bring all council decisions to vote in a public meeting and to follow the Brown Act guidelines. Therefore, no decisions can be made without first having a public meeting. Typically, the vast majority of other cities meet twice a month. Compton and Ingle- wood are the only two cities that meet four times a month, with the exception of the City of Los Angeles.

Measure ED would move the next city election to 2024 instead of 2023. The move to change the city’s current election year from odd to even numbered years is consistent with the vast majority of other cities that have moved to align their elections with presidential elections.

This change will result in the current elected officials having another year added to their term due to the fact that there will always be one year added in order to move the first election from an odd to an even year. This would happen no matter when this change would be made.
 

Ultimately, this change would reduce the city’s elections cost due to the fact that we would share the cost with other municipalities holding elections during even numbered years. In the last odd-numbered election year in 2021, the city spent approximately $1.5 million. This cost is only expected to increase.

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Not only would this change make financial sense, but also result in an increase in voter turn-out. Aligning with presidential elections generally brings more awareness than local elections in odd numbered years. Other cities such as Los Angeles have seen a large increase in voter turnout after changing their elections from odd to even years.

All Compton residents should stay informed on the important measures as they will help to shape the well-being of the city. To be enacted, Measure AM and Measure ED must be approved by a majority of Compton voters. If you have not already mailed in your ballot, please be sure to do so or to vote in person at any of the local voting locations around the city.
 

For more information on the measures, please visit www.comptoncity.org

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Alita Godwin serves as City Clerk for the City of Compton.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Compton Herald.