One more year! One more year!
During Tuesday's City Council meeting (an event this blogger could not attend due to the Presidential Primary), council members voted to move the city's election dates from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years.
The move will reportedly save some money, since an election in an odd-numbered year will reportedly cost the city about $1.30 per registered voter while an election during an even-numbered year - when Congressional and State Legislative offices are also up for a vote - will cost the city 40 to 50 cents per registered voter. The change also gives current council members an extra year in office.
Mayor Jon Harrison and council members Mick Gallagher and Pat Gilbreath have terms that were scheduled to expire in 2009. Those terms were extended to 2010. Newly-elected members Pete Aguilar and Jerry Bean have terms that will be extended from 2011 to 2012.
Aguilar and Bean were elected last November in an election that didn't exactly draw a large number of voters to the polls. The November ballot included a number of San Bernardino city offices and other contests but voter turnout was only 13.25 percent.
Although local officials can have a more direct impact on voters' lives than federal politicians, Presidential and midterm elections inspire more people to show up to the polls. In November 2006, the last midterm election, voter turnout exceeded 47 percent in San Bernardino County.