Did you know that L.A. has more than 2 million eligible voters, but that 1.6 million of them are expected to skip the election on Tuesday? This means that you, dear voter, have a lot of responsibility.
When to Vote:
Polls are open from 7AM – 8PM on Tuesday, May 21st.
Where to Vote:
Find your polling place and a sample ballot here.
Wendy Greuel vs. Eric Garcetti:
Angelenos will finally put an end to the TV ads and campaigning as they choose the next mayor of Los Angeles. Listen to how the candidates responded to Warren’s grilling during a recent debate, here.
City Attorney’s Race:
Carmen Trutanich is the City Attorney of Los Angeles. After promising never to run for another office, he tried for District Attorney last year, but he came in third and missed the run-off. Now he’s running for re-election next Tuesday. Mike Feuer is a former Los Angeles City Councilman who lost a bid to be City Attorney in 2001. Since then he served three terms in the State Assembly, enough to be termed out. Now he’s running for City Attorney again, and he’s in Tuesday’s run-off against the Trutanich. The two have been exchanging insults and accusations in interviews, speeches and campaign mailers.
Warren interviewed them here.
City Controller’s Race:
San Fernando Valley City Councilman Dennis Zine and Westside attorney Ron Galperin are the candidates to replace Wendy Greuel as Los Angeles City Controller. But what does the Controller do? Which Way, LA? asked Raphael Sonenshein, who was executive director of the Charter Reform Commission that re-designed the Controller’s job, then heard from the candidates themselves.
Listen to that debate here.
Prop C
When the US Supreme Court decided the Citizens United case three years ago, it said corporations, labor unions and other special interest groups could spend unlimited amounts of money on independent political campaigns. Since then, campaign spending has skyrocketed to a grand total of $6 billion for last year’s local, state and federal elected offices. Proposition C on next week’s Los Angeles City ballot would send a message to Washington.
Listen here.
Marijuana (Props D, E and F)
If you visit a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary this very month, you’re likely to get an earful of voter information along with your bag of cannabis. That’s because there are two big competing marijuana initiatives on the May ballot, Proposition D and Proposition F. There is another pot initiative on the ballot, Prop. E, but backers of that measure have thrown their support behind Prop. D, so it’s considered a non-player in the issue.
The backers of each proposition say passage of their measure would help end the long debate in Los Angeles over how best to regulate the city’s booming medical pot business.
Read more on what’s at stake for medical marijuana and listen to the pros and cons of each initiative, here.
City Council and Other Races:
There’s also a handful of other races, including: City Council races, and a LAUSD School Board seat to fill, as well as a seat to fill on a LA Community College, district 6 seat. SmartVoter.org has a rundown.
Need a sample ballot, still have questions about voting in LA?
Go here to the City Clerk’s website for more, http://clerk.lacity.org/Elections/index.htm
Also, you can follow The LA City Clerk on Twitter for real time election updates and information.
Still want more? Find KCRW’s California election coverage online right here.